Undercover
by NataliaBoaVista
Summary: Ryan/OC Lotsa Fluff. Cassandra comes to Miami, expecting a normal job as a CSI, until she meets Ryan Wolfe. Only the first few chapters have anything to do with being Undercover!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI: Miami or any of the other CSI franchises. Although I would really love to. **

**Author's Notes: I was getting so tired of coming here to see the first few chapters completely messed up, spelling mistakes and all, that I decided to fix it and upload a new one. This one is much easier to read, it's even complete with spaces! I LOVE REVIEWS, please, if you read, press the button, please! **

**Also, I know CSI's don't really go Undercover, but it's really only the first few chapters. Last but not least, enjoy.  
**

"Do I have everything I need? I mean do I look okay? Can you tell it's me?" I asked, worried about tonight's scheme.

"You look fine. Just stop playing with the hair or you'll mess it up. I know you're new to this and everything, so let me give you some advice," my new friend Saddie said. "Stay calm first of all. If you even _look_ at them the wrong way, it will mess everything up. Don't play with your disguise either. One of your own hairs' sticking out of this wig and they might notice! Also, if you see anyone there that you know, stay as far away from them as possible, and if they see you, get out of there right away. You don't want anyone to recognize you and give you away," Saddie said, being the experienced undercover officer she was.

See the thing is, I'm a new CSI at the Miami Dade Police Department. Trust me, it sucks being the _new_ one. You have no idea what's going on and are nervous as hell when it's your first job. My first job includes going undercover, a very dangerous drug dealer, and murder. Interesting hmm?

"It's 11 o'clock now," Saddie said, looking up at the clock. I sat there, looking at my shoes. "Oh come on, Cassandra. It's not as hard as it sounds. Just remember what I told you and be careful." Saddie said, rolling her eyes and pulling me up by the arm.

"Ow. Anyways, weren't you nervous your first job? Was it as serious as mine is?" I asked her, stalling.

"Of course not; I wasn't as good as you are. They must think you're good or they wouldn't have given you such an interesting first job," she said, now pulling me towards the front door.

"Okay this is it," I said, grabbing my car keys off the table. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck!" Saddie called as she headed back down the hallway. Her favourite soap was on.

I walked down the driveway and got into my car. I was headed to a bar called Lazy Dayz. It sounds nice but it is not a nice bar. Some of the worst druggies hang out there. I was going to investigate about a drug dealer named Sanchez Bavario. He was supposedly connected to a few murders in the area.

As I pulled into a parking space, I noticed silver Hummer at the other end of the parking lot. It looked familiar, but I didn't think twice about it. I walked into the bar and looked around. There weren't very many people. A few men were sitting at the bar, drinking beer out of a mug and laughing. There were some at tables having arm wrestles. A few were arguing. The last thing I wanted was a fight breaking out. I noticed a flight of stairs through a doorway, but went up and sat at the bar first.

"Now what's a pretty little lady like you doing at a place like this?" the bar tender asked me, winking.

"Oh uhm, well I was just taking a drive. I thought I'd stop in for a break," I said, thinking of the lamest excuse in the book.

"Hm. Well can I get you anything?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Do you have Pepsi here?" I asked, all of a sudden dying for some caffeine. "I don't want to drink and drive you know."

"Sure I guess. It's watered down crap but here you go," he said, handing me a glass filled with the watered down Pepsi. He went back to polishing glasses and watching the celebrity poker they had playing on the TV.  
  
"Hey," some guy said, who was sitting beside me, I just noticed. He looked familiar but I couldn't place him. "You look familiar to me," he said.

"Really? Well I don't think I know you," I said, turning away and taking a sip of my Pepsi, trying to hide my face. Remembering what Saddie said, I decided to get up and go to a table. As I was rising he grabbed my arm.

"Hold on, are you sure? You look_ really_ familiar. You don't work for the MDPD do you?" he asked. _Oh crap_, I thought. Just what I needed, someone completely giving away that I worked at the _police department_.

"Hey, can you please shut up?" I asked. I leaned over and whispered, "as a matter of fact I do work there. My name's Cassandra James, why?"

"Whoa, I know who you are now! New girl right? I'm really sorry; I realize what's going on now. It was just bugging the hell out of me how familiar you were." What was he talking about, 'he knew what was going on'? "I work there too," he continued. "I'm a CSI, my name's Ryan Wolfe. I think I saw you talking to Horatio at work today? He told everyone that a new girl was coming." Then it hit me. He worked at the MDPD too, I had caught a glimpse of him that day when I was in fact, talking to my new boss Horatio Caine, about tonight's assignment. I remember thinking he was cute and that I'd have to get to know him. Did he also work for Horatio?

"Oh uhm yes," I stammered, remembering he was there. "Aren't you worried that the two of us talking about this here will give me away? Wait, why are _you_ here?" I asked him, suddenly suspicious.

"Let's talk over there. That bar tender freaks me out," Ryan said, standing and walking over to the table farthest away from everyone. I couldn't help but notice how good he looked in his everyday clothes, jeans and a plain blue shirt. When I saw him that day he had been dressed a little more work appropriate, and with a lab coat on. I got up and followed him, leaving my Pepsi at the bar, suddenly uninterested in it.

"Okay, so we've established why I'm here. Right? I mean you said you realized what was going on now," I said as I sat down, a little annoyed that someone had realized I was undercover so quickly. "But what, may I ask, are you doing here?"

"Funny thing actually, I'm undercover too," he said, and I noticed that he had raised his eyebrows.

"But, why am I here then?" I asked confused there was already someone working undercover here.

He frowned. "I'm not sure..."

"Oh well don't you think we should be a little quieter?" I asked. Anyone in here could be listening.

"Don't worry about it, they aren't here yet. I've been coming here undercover for the last month, and I know who's who. The guys in here right now don't care about what we have to say. Trust me, it's safe to talk out loud right now."

"Whoa, you've been coming here undercover for a whole month now?" I asked, realizing that what Saddie said wasn't true. They didn't think I was _good_, they were just sending me here because they knew there was another experienced undercover officer here if something happened to me. They just didn't expect for us to recognize each other right away.  
  
"Yea, they told me there was a new CSI coming soon, but I didn't expect to know who it was right away. They knew you wouldn't recognize me because you were too new, you wouldn't have met me yet. I didn't think I'd recognize you either, but I saw you talking to Horatio today. He's my boss you know," Ryan said, answering some of the questions floating around inside my head.

"Actually I did recognize you. Not right away but I saw you while I was talking to Horatio. You're not in much of a disguise though are you? You don't look much different than when I saw you today." I said, just noticing that he wasn't in disguise.

"Nah, I don't bother with disguises. Sitting at the bar and watching the TV pretty much makes you blend right in. You don't really need a disguise in a place like this. Plus, around midnight a lot more people come in. It's easier to blend," he said. It was already a quarter to 12. I guessed the place would start filling up in about 15 minutes.

"Well, now that we know about each other, do we work together? Does one of us get assigned to something different? Do we stay here and just pretend we don't know each other?" I asked, a dozen questions filling my head fast.

"I really have no idea. We'll have to see at work tomorrow and -," he was cut off. A bang came from the front of the bar, and in walked a man about 6'4", bulky, with an entourage of about 5 guys that looked like they'd kick anyone's ass. I immediately knew who it was. Sanchez Bavario with his posse.

"Oh crap," said Ryan from across the table.

**End Notes: That is just so much nicer. I fixed it as well as I could. R&R please! **


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you mean 'oh crap'," I whispered at Ryan. "I thought you said you've been staking this place out for months! What's the big deal?"

"Just worried, they're here a lot earlier, and usually I'm usually sitting at the bar, with tons of people around, alone," he looked at me when he said the last word. His eyebrows went up again.

"So what? You could have found a girlfriend or something since last time you were here right? I mean you don't come here every day do you? I could pretend to be your girlfriend," I said it before I knew what was coming out. My face burned and I knew I was red as an apple.

"I have a better idea," he replied ignoring the fact that my face was a giant cherry. He got up and came to my side of the table. He sat beside me and before I knew what was happening, I was under the table. He'd rather push me under the table instead of just pretend he'd found a girlfriend! I slid back to the wall, and saw Sanchez and his entourage go through the doorway and up the staircase.

"Hey, can I come up now?" I asked him, making sure there was a hint of attitude in my voice.

"Yea come on up."

I pulled myself into the chair beside him. "Wow, you're dramatic aren't you? Are we going to follow them or what?" I asked, finding myself excited for the first time in a long time.

"No. We have to go back to the lab right now and find Horatio. Tell him they were early," he says, already getting up.

"Aren't you making a big deal out of this?" I asked, getting up quickly and following him to the bar, where he paid the bartender for my Pepsi. "They came in a little bit early, so what? Oh and thanks by the way," I said.

"No problem. Trust me though; these drug dealer types stick to their routines. One thing out of the ordinary and people suspect them."

I snorted. "You call coming into a bar a little earlier 'out of the ordinary'?"

"Uh yea. These guys are big time drug dealers. They wouldn't even risk doing this is they weren't up to something," he said. His tone made me feel a little foolish. He must have seen a look on my face because then he said: "It's okay though. You're new after all."

"So I'll follow you to the lab then?" I asked, trailing him out to the parking lot. He headed for the silver Hummer. _Duh_, I thought to myself, no wonder it had looked familiar. Everyone at the MDPD drove a Hummer.

"What you don't know the way?" he asked as he was getting in.

"Well, not from here exactly. And I can't leave my car here and go with you. It will definitely get stolen if I leave it here." I said, more to myself. Now that I really looked around, the outside of this place was like a dump. The guys inside this place must have wondered why Ryan hung out in there so much. He was clean-shaven, wore clean clothes, well he was generally just clean, compared to them. They must have wondered even more why he'd meet a lady friend in a place like that, assuming they thought I was his lady friend.

"Then yea, follow I guess," he said. I quickly walked to where my car was parked and got in. I turned on the engine and the radio came on. I waited for Ryan to pull out then I followed.

When we got to the MDPD crime lab, we both parked and got out. Horatio was already waiting for us right inside the doors. I guessed Ryan had called him on the way there.

"Mr. Wolfe," Horatio said to Ryan, "I see you've already met Miss James."

"Why did they put her on an assignment already being covered?" he asked Horatio right away. I stood there feeling awkward. I got the feeling he was a little annoying that they'd put me on a case with him, like he was one of those cops always saying "I work alone." Plus, I'd only talked to Horatio once today, and hadn't even met any of the others I was supposed to be working with.

"I assume, they didn't think you two would recognize each other, Miss James being so new," Horatio answered back.

"But still - ," Ryan started, then must have remembered the information we had to share, "oh never mind. Listen H, we've got some information for you about Bavario. He came into Lazy Dayz way too early today, didn't even stop to chat with the bar tender. He headed straight upstairs, with his little group of bodyguards." I still wondered why this was such a big deal. It really didn't seem like it. Even major drug dealers can decide to hit the bar a little earlier and skip chit-chat with the bar tender right?

"Hm. That is quite interesting news," Horatio said. (Maybe it was more 'out of the ordinary' than I thought it was?) "I've got better." He said it like he was winning a contest for who had the juicier news. But he looked quite sad. "There was a murder tonight. It was a little girl too." I saw Ryan's face drop, obviously Horatio had won this Juicier News Battle. I felt weird. I'd never heard anyone say someone had died, especially a little girl, with hardly a hint of emotion. "I called in Calleigh and Eric; they're over at the crime scene now," he said.

"I'll head over there right now," Ryan said glumly.

"What about me?" It was the first time I'd spoken since coming to the lab, Horatio looked a bit dazzled by my question. Maybe I sounded a bit too excited for someone who'd just been told a little girl was murdered.

"Cassandra, I think you should go home for tonight," Ryan said, in a soothing voice, like I was really upset or something. It was the first time he'd said my name, although I don't know why I noticed that. 

"You look tired. Come by tomorrow and I'll introduce you to Calleigh and Eric. You'll definitely like them. You can meet Alexx too, she's the Medical Examiner."

"Oh. Well okay, if you want me to. I have a question for you though, Horatio." I said turning to him. "Can I be on this case too?"

"If you think you're up to it already," he started.

"I am," I said right away.

He nodded, "fine. But go home tonight like Mr. Wolfe here has said. He can give you the information they find tonight, tomorrow. Then he can introduce you to the rest of the team."

"Alright. Thanks a lot," I said, shaking his hand, not knowing what else to do. I turned to walk out the door, and then remembered. "Oh, and nice meeting you too Ryan," I said, going back to shake his hand too. "I look forward to working with you in the future."

"Same here," he replied, smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up late the next morning. Last night's memories crushing down on me. Meeting Ryan, Sanchez, and Horatio's bad news. But I was excited for today too. Excited to finally meet Calleigh and Eric, to see Ryan again and get all of the news from last night. I got up quick and took a shower. I tried to pick clothes that were casual and professional all at the same time... you know, not to impress anyone or anything. I brushed my hair and pulled it back into a tight ponytail. Teeth brushed, cell phone in hand, I headed out to my car.

I arrived at the MDPD around 9:30 am. I walked in and was greeted by Horatio.

"Hello again Miss James," he said in that mysterious voice.

"Hi, Horatio. I'm sorry I'm a little late. I was home so late last night I didn't set my alarm clock, and then I slept in," I said, starting with the excuses right away.

"It's okay. You had a long night, along with Mr. Wolfe," Horatio replied.

"Oh thank you. It won't happen again anyways. Where is Ryan? He's supposed to tell me about what they found last night," I said, eager to get to work.

"Well, it seems he forgot to set his alarm too, and slept in a little later than you. He's not here yet." Horatio looked around as if Ryan might walk up to us any minute.

"Oh, well, what should I do before then?" I asked. "I mean I don't really know my way around yet, or know anyone else," I told him. I hardly new Ryan either, but somehow I already felt comfortable around him.

"Well I could introduce you to Eric, and he could show you some of the evidence," Horatio offered. "I know Mr. Wolfe said he was going to introduce you, but I'd be more than happy to. Unless you'd feel more comfortable around him?"

I would have, but I lied. "Oh no not at all. I'd love to meet Eric now." I did want to meet him anyways.

"Alright. Come with me then Miss James." Horatio started walking down the hall. There were interrogation rooms on every side, labs of all sorts, and a lot of people I didn't know. I was glad I would be working with one main team, and not all of these people.

We entered a lab with several different items laid on the table, each with a separate tag. There was a man leaning on the table, just looking at it all.

"Eric?" Horatio said. Eric looked startled when he looked our way. His eyes scanned Horatio and then took in me.

"Uh, yea H?" he asked, wondering who the hell I was, and why I was there.

"Eric I'd like you to meet Cassandra James. Cassandra, this is Eric Delko." Horatio introduced us. I shook Eric's hand (what's with all the hand shaking?) and looked him over. He was tall, dark, and handsome. How lucky was I to be working with these guys?

He smiled. "Hi. I heard there was a new girl coming in. Nice to meet you Cassandra."

"Nice to meet you too," I replied.

"Cassandra will be working on our team Eric." Horatio told him.

"Nice," he replied.

"Yes, listen Eric; I'd like you to go over what happened last night with Cassandra. She's going to be working this case also. She's already met Ryan but if you come across Calleigh or Natalia please do introduce them," Horatio told Eric. I hadn't heard of Natalia before. When Horatio was gone I turned to Eric.

"So, what's all this stuff?" I asked, not making small talk first.

"This is everything significant we found last night," he told me. A few things on the table were a small piece of ripped paper, with most of the letters erased very well. There were a few children's books with what looked like blood droplets soaked into the pages, and a lot of pictures. One picture I noticed was a footprint.

"Did you find that at the crime scene?" I asked Eric, nodding towards the photo.

"Yea, in the girls' bedroom. It looks like whoever killed her was wearing work boots, and they had dirt on them," he said, picking up the photo and looking at it more closely.

"Do you know a size?" I asked.

"Not yet. There was only about half a footprint, so we're working on it," he said, and I looked at the photo again. The heel of the boot was missing, as if the killer had been walking on tip-toe, making it hard to see how long it would be.

"Well, do we just stand here and discuss everything?" I asked, finding myself bored and wondering if Ryan was here yet.

"Yea, pretty much. But I've been in here all morning and I'm dying for a coffee. Want to come? I'll see if I can find Calleigh on the way there," he asked, and again, I was dying for some caffeine.


	4. Chapter 4

I followed Eric down one of the many hallways, towards the cafeteria.

"You guys have your own cafeteria here?" I asked, "Why?"

"Well a lot of the CSI's stay overnight seeing as we're all very busy," he answered. "You'll probably end up going a night with no sleep too, trust me." We reached the coffee machine and he got himself a cup. "Do you want anything?" he asked.

"Sure, black please," I told him. He handed me a full Styrofoam cup and we walked to one of the empty tables. "So, who do you think is responsible for that little girl's death?" I asked him, sipping my coffee.

"Well we're not sure yet, but we think the girl's parents may have been into heavy drugs. We think Sanchez Bavario might have something to do with it too," he told me.

"Do you think they weren't paying him for drugs? Or were too far behind on a tab?"

"I don't know. Whatever it was though I'm sure they'll be paying it now," he said.

"I feel so horrible for her parents. Imagine what it would be like to lose a child because of your own disgusting habit," I said.

"Yea, well don't you think they would also deserve it?" he asked.

"Well... that's a difficult question," I said. "May I excuse myself? I'm going to see if Ryan is here yet. I guess I'll talk to you later, since we're working a case together." I smiled at him and got up, leaving my coffee to sit on the table.

Halfway down the hall I turned a corner and ran head on into a woman with long blonde hair.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I apologized, kneeling to help her pick up some papers she'd dropped.

"No worries. Accidents happen," she replied. She had a slight southern accent. She held out her hand. "I'm Calleigh Duquesne. CSI." I took her hand (again with the hand shaking).

"I'm Cassandra James. I've been looking forward to meeting you Calleigh; I'm the new girl on your team. I've met Eric and Ryan already."

"Oh you've met them huh?" She said, smiling. "Did Ryan charm you yet?"

"No... Should he have?" I asked, frowning.

"Oh no, he just takes a liking to some girls. But don't let that get your hopes down, he just takes a while to figure out who he's taken a liking to sometimes," she said.

"Whoa whoa whoa," I said. "Slow down. Who said I had my hopes up? You and I just met two seconds ago! Me and Ryan only last night! It wasn't even twelve hours ago!"

"I know, but I have a taste for these things," she said smiling to herself, and walked away.

A little while later I finally caught a glimpse of Ryan heading into a room. I went over to the door to wait for him. As he came out I grabbed his arm lightly.

"How does it feel to be grabbed by the arm by some stranger?" I asked smiling.

"Cassandra, hi," he said. I knew he wasn't startled at all; I wasn't trying to scare him.

"You were supposed to introduce me to Eric and Calleigh today," I told him. "I've already met both. That Calleigh's a weird one."

"Cal? You think she's the weird one? Why?"

"Just something she said to me that's all. Anyways, where have you been all day?" I asked him. It was a little after noon now.

"Alright then. Well I slept in a little too much and when I got here I couldn't find you. Did Horatio give you any information about last night's crime scene?" he asked me.

"No, he introduced me to Eric and he showed me some evidence. He didn't really tell me what was going on though," I replied. "What were you doing in there?" I asked, referring to the room he had been in.

"Oh, that's the DNA Lab. Did you see the children's books? They had drops of blood on them. I was taking them to Valera; she's the DNA specialist, so she could analyze them."

"Okay. Well what else do you know about the murder?"

"Well we know the little girl's name," he told me. "Her name is Madeliene Corbett, her parents just so happened to be storing heroin in a safe inside the house."

"So me and Eric were close," I said.

"You were talking to him today?"

"I told you I'd already met him and Calleigh."

"Well I didn't assume you'd actually talked to him about the case already," he said.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy Ryan?" Oh my God, was I already flirting with him? No, I thought, I can't flirt with this guy I just met the night before. And he's my co-worker!  
  
"What? No," he said. "I just didn't think you'd talked long together. What did you guys think of?"

"Well Eric was saying that maybe the little girl's parents were buying drugs and not paying for them in time. He said they were pretty sure Sanchez was into it somehow," I said.

"Sanchez is into it. They were holding the heroin for him until he could move it. Maybe they didn't want to give it back to him?" he said.

"Maybe. I guess we'll find out soon enough," I said back.

"You and I are going to have to go back to the Lazy Dayz bar you know," he said, looking at me, raising his eyebrows yet again.

"You mean we're working on the undercover stuff together?" I asked, my voice rising a little too high for me not to blush.

"Yea, I went to speak to Horatio about it today. He said we can work on it together, but we have to pose as a couple. Are you okay with that?" he asked.

"A couple? Sure, I - I mean, why not? It can't be that hard to act like a couple," I said, my face burning hot. "Hey Ryan, did you ask Horatio to keep me on the case with you? Or did he suggest it?" I felt the need to ask that.

"I asked him to keep you on the case," he said point blank.

"Okay. Thank you," I smiled up at him.

"No problem," he smiled back. "What do you say, Lazy Dayz tonight?" he asked me.

"Absolutely. Let's get this asshole!" I said ecstatic. I'd finally be getting some action!

"Then it's a date. Oh, and don't wear that blonde wig again. You're black hair looks much better." Then he turned and walked away.

Did he just say a date? And compliment my jet black hair? Oh wait, we're pretending to be a couple. But I walked down to the main hall and signed out; happy he'd said it anyways.


	5. Chapter 5

I'll have to admit, I was excited for that night. I kept telling myself I didn't already have a crush on Ryan, but I'm sure by then I already had. I just didn't realize it. I had Saddie over that night.

"So Cassandra, I hear your case is going well," she said to me, a huge smile on her face.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, trying to sound at least a little bit like I didn't know what she was talking about. "We haven't even had any leads."

"Oh come on, you know I'm not talking about that. I know you met Ryan Wolfe that night, and I know you're on the case together now. I also know that he's really hot," she said her smile widening.

"Really? I hadn't noticed that. Hm, guess he's not my kind of guy."

"Ha, whatever. You want to work on this case with him, I know it."

"Okay, I'll admit I want to work on this case with him, but only because I feel more comfortable with him so far than any of the other CSI's." I told her. "Calleigh seems to have the same idea as you though. She asked if Ryan had 'charmed' me yet. She thinks I have this undying love for him already or something," I told her.

"Well, she does have a taste for things like that," she said, repeating what Calleigh herself had said.

"Oh wow," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

Then I heard a horn beeping out in the driveway. Saddie went over to the window, I followed. There was the familiar silver Hummer. I tried focusing on the task ahead of us, to find Sanchez Bavario, instead of what was coming to mind.

"Oh your rides here," Saddie said, wiggling her eyebrows at me. "Woo, have fun!" she teased.

"Oh please, like anything's going to happen," I said to her, smiling despite trying not to.

"Ha! I knew you liked him already! You're hoping something happens aren't you?!" she asked. I could tell she was getting way too excited.

"How about I talk to you later about all of this?" I said. The horn beeped again and I grabbed my phone from the table near the door. "See you Saddie," I said, winking at her. "Make sure you lock the door when you leave!" I shouted to her, as she was already down the hall. She liked to hang out at my house even when I wasn't there, but I trusted her.

I walked down the driveway and around to the passenger's side door. I opened and got in.

"Hey," Ryan said to me.

"Hey," I said back. I turned to him and finally got a good look. He was looking right at me, and it caught me by surprise. He was only wearing a white collared shirt, with plain jeans again, but he looked good. "Oh uhm, uh - hi?" I spluttered. I coughed into my fist. "You look good. You don't think we're too dressed up though do you?" I was also wearing plain jeans, but had a nice top on and my hair done up.

"Well thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," he said, "and I'm glad you left the blonde wig at home," he smiled. "I hope we're not too dressed up... Lazy Dayz is kind of a dingy place isn't it?"

"Yea but I think we'll be fine. It won't hurt that place to get a few good looking people in there once in a while," I said, hoping that was true and they wouldn't just be suspicious. I couldn't help asking myself why we'd both dressed like this was a real date. Sure we were pretending to be a couple, but couples don't have to look good, especially going to a bar like Lazy Dayz.

"I guess you're right," Ryan said. He put the car into reverse and we backed out of the driveway.

The whole drive to Lazy Dayz was quiet. The music was on but the volume was so low I could hardly hear it. The radio was set to a station I wasn't familiar with anyway. When we got there Ryan pulled into the same spot he'd parked the Hummer before. We both got out and went inside. I followed him right to the table we were at last time, the one I was shoved underneath. We were quite a bit earlier this time, it was only 10 pm, and there was a waitress serving tables. She came over and asked if we wanted anything. We both ordered coffees. When she served our coffees we sat in silence for a little while. It wasn't awkward, but I soon spoke up.

"So we just sit here until Sanchez shows up?" I asked, even though I knew the plan.

"Yea. We had to come earlier this time because he came earlier last time. Who knows how much before 12 he'll show up now," Ryan replied, sighing at the (probably) long night ahead of us.

That's okay, I thought. I'd be happy to sit here all night with you. Again I tried forcing those thoughts out of my head when the bar door slammed open and Sanchez Bavario walked in. Ryan and I lowered our heads this time and started talking to each other about ''tonight''. Horatio had given us topics to talk about if we needed to look casual. "Tonight" was one of those topics, which I would definitely not have picked to talk about. Unfortunately Ryan got in the first word.

"So what are we going to do tonight?" He said in a low voice, leaving me to make something up in case anyone could hear us.

I stared at him. His raised his eyebrows, prompting me to say something, and I finally got out "Well we could go back to my place and -" I was interrupted when Sanchez Bavario slammed a fist down on the table. Ryan and I jerked our heads toward him. I got a better look at him this time then last time I saw him. He was big, really big. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes, even though it was night time and we were inside. He had a thin moustache and a shaved head.

"I know you two are cops," was all he said.  


**Dun dun duuun. ****R&R! **

**P.S. Isn't "Lazy Dayz" just the stupidest name you've ever heard? Especially for a bar! But hey, I couldn't think of anything else.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm not really sure what's going on in this. I actually started writing Undercover a long time ago, on a few other sites I'm already up to Chapter 13. I'm not posting them all at once on here though because you won't have anything to look forward to when you've finished. I'm pretty fast at updating anyways so no worries when this is all caught up. Big long speech over. ; ) **

We must have looked like casual customers for at least 5 seconds; because our shock was genuine, and I'm sure it showed on our faces.

"Excuse me sir," Ryan said, realizing we were probably in for something, "but would you mind not slamming our table? We're trying to enjoy our coffee."

"Don't give me that crap," Sanchez spoke again, he had a very deep voice and I won't lie, it scared the crap out of me. "I know you two are cops," he repeated. Ryan looked over at me with fake confusion.

"This guy thinks we're cops," he said to me.

"That's funny," I said stupidly. I could feel adrenaline pumping through me, making me scared and excited all at the same time. Sanchez slammed his fist on the table again; people started looking over at our table.

"I said don't give me that crap!" He practically yelled at us. That's when Ryan stood up, and started blabbering on about how we were absolutely not police officers and that Sanchez better leave before he called the real cops. While he was going on I also stood, behind Sanchez since he was now completely turned toward Ryan. Sanchez started yelling at Ryan and that's when he took the chance. I saw the fingers on his left hand flex, his hand moved up an inch or two and I knew what he was going for. He looked at me over Sanchez's shoulder and I gave a little nod. Right then I launched myself onto Sanchez, fear being replaced with the excitement of a fight, even if I was a 120 pound girl and Sanchez had to be a good 200 pounds or over, that probably worked out a lot.

"What the hell?!" Sanchez roared as I dug my knuckles into his back. Before we knew it about 4 of the men sitting around the bar were running towards the commotion. Some people got up and ran out of the bar, some moved to the other side of the room and watched us. One of the men grabbed me from behind, but I had my arms locked around Sanchez, and was trying to kick his legs out from under him. I felt the hands around my waist being tugged back, I looked and saw Ryan fighting with one of the guys, all while trying to get the one off of me. We must have looked like a human chain, and he must not have had time to get his gun. I let go of Sanchez voluntarily and grabbed at my phone, I called for backup. Sanchez must have heard me because he swung around and punched me, right in the mouth. I fell onto my back and the taste of metal filled my mouth. I knew I was bleeding. I heard Ryan cry out in pain and turned my head to see him holding his nose, blood was streaming down into his mouth. I had forgotten about Sanchez for all of a minute, but when I looked around he was gone, he'd gotten away. Finally another silver Hummer carrying Eric and Horatio pulled up, along with about four other patrol cars. Horatio and Eric were out of the Hummer and into the bar, guns drawn in less than 60 seconds. The rest of the officers followed. Ryan was still struggling with two of Sanchez's "secret henchmen", not even noticing the officers. I was still on the floor, a little dazed.

"Stop this fighting now! Lie flat on the floor!" Horatio hollered. I didn't think he was capable of being so loud. When they saw how many officers there were, all with their guns drawn and pointed at them, the men gave up instantly. They got off Ryan and when they were lying face down and were cuffed, I got up and slowly went over to where Ryan was sitting on the floor. Blood still gushed from his nose.

"Oh my God... are you alright?" I asked, kneeling beside him.

"Yea, yea, I'm fine. Are you okay?" He asked me, and I could hear alarm in his voice.

"Split lip, might need stitches but not as bad as you. Your nose is probably broken!" I said, not caring how bad I looked or sounded.

"I don't think it's broken, it doesn't hurt that much," he said, feeling it with his fingers. "Ow!" He squeaked. "Okay, maybe it hurts a lot more than I'm letting on." I smiled at him.

"You don't have to be Mr. Tough Guy Ryan." He tried to smile back but it turned into a grimace as a fresh wave of pain took over. "Come on, we have to get your nose to stop bleeding. Come over to the ambulance with me," I said standing. He got up, moaning. "Whoa, did you break a leg or something too?" I asked, putting my hand on his arm instinctively, and letting him lean on me.

"No, but one of those guys got a really good kick in," he said as we started walking out of the bar.

"Well don't worry," I said, "I got a lot of good kicks at Sanchez." I felt happy with myself. The fight may have been dangerous, and could have resulted in a lot more than a split lip and a bloody (and possibly broken) nose, but it was just what I needed. Adrenaline was still pumping through me. We reached the ambulance; I was surprised to see there was only one. Two EMT's came to look us over.

"Well Miss James, good news for you," the one inspecting me said. "You don't need any stitches. A bit of this," she dabbed something on my lip and I gasped. "Yea sometimes that does that to you," she chuckled. "But you'll be fine now, it should heal up fine alone." When she was finished checking the rest of me over I waited for Ryan. They'd stopped his nose from bleeding, and now his EMT was feeling it. I could see in his face how much it hurt but he didn't make a sound. Finally, he was finished and walked over with just a slight limp.

"So?" I asked him when he'd reached me.

"Nose is broken. I can breathe through it though, so he said it'll probably heal alone. Might be swollen for a few days though," he said, sighing.

"You're lucky it's not all deformed now though," I said.

"I guess you're right," he laughed. "You're luckier though, you don't even need stitches."

"Yea but it still hurts, that punch hit me right in the mouth, I've never been hit like that before..."

"You're sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Of course. I know this job can be dangerous. Anyways, what about your leg?"

"He said it'll be fine. It just hurts a lot right now," he said, wincing every few steps.

"Did you talk to Horatio yet?" I asked.

"He said to come in tomorrow. Said I looked too beat up at the moment," he sniffed.

"Well, you don't exactly look like a jar of sunshine," I said.

"You shouldn't be talking," he said playfully. When we reached the Hummer he went to the driver's side.

"I'll drive. You might be fine but I'm in better shape than you anyways," I told him, holding out my hand for the keys.

"Oh come on!" He said.

"Just in case..." He gave me a look. "Okay, and I've been wanting to drive one of these babies!" He dug out his keys and handed them over, then went around to the passenger's side. I got in and started the Hummer.

**I can't believe I actually researched what happens when your nose is broken. It's ****true that they don't do anything, as long as you can breathe out of it, it'll heal itself.**** R&R:D**


	7. Chapter 7

**I had such a hard time deciding this chapter. I had it written so differently before. Hopefully the way it is works out for the better. Enjoy. **

The ride home was quiet, the nights fear catching up with us. I knew we were both thinking about where Sanchez Bavario was now, and what he might be doing. Eric, Calleigh and Natalia had been hard at work on the case of Madeliene Corbett, but hadn't had any leads and were in a rut. Ryan had told me the directions to his house, and after we'd pulled in the driveway, Ryan spoke up.

"I'm sorry," was all he said.

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

"I didn't know about... his "undercover guys". You know they were probably listening that night we first started talking?" he said. It seemed like "that night" was a thousand years ago, but it had only been 2 and a half days. "It was my fault, I was being careless. It's my fault for your lip. At least I got the worst of it," he said.

"Do you seriously think that Ryan?" I said. I couldn't believe he was blaming himself. "If anything it was my fault. I should have taken my gun and put it to his head before he even had time to yell or for his guys to notice. We would have had him cuffed and no one would have been hurt. Instead I got the stupid idea to practically tackle the guy!"

"It wasn't your fault!" He said, seemingly angry that I'd accused myself.

"Ryan," I said. He turned and I looked him right in the eyes. "I don't blame you for this."

"Well thanks then Cassandra," he said, "but that doesn't make me feel any less guilty." He opened the door and started getting out.

"Ryan?" I started.

"Yea?"

"Uhm... I'll pick you up tomorrow," I said. He'd told me to drive the Hummer back to my house, pick him up in the morning and he'd drive me home after work, when he was feeling better.

"Yea, see you tomorrow," he said and closed the door. I waited until he was inside before leaving. I'd wanted to say something to him before, but as I was going to, it just left me. I pulled out of his driveway and headed home. I didn't stop thinking about him the whole way.

The next day I awoke, my lip was swollen and surprisingly hurt a lot. I went to the bathroom and looked through the medicine cabinet. I found and popped two Tylenols and started getting ready for work. When I was ready I walked out the door and down into my driveway when I saw Ryan's Hummer sitting there. I'd forgotten all about having to pick him up. I quickly ran back inside and put some cover up on my lip, fixed my hair and grabbed his keys off my kitchen counter where I must have thrown them the night before. I hopped into the Hummer and turned over the ignition. Good thing I remembered the way to his house from the night before, I'd never thought to write down the directions. I turned up the radio and heard awful folk music coming out of the speakers. _Must be one of Ryan's guilty pleasures_, I thought to myself as I tuned through stations until I heard a song that sounded good.

When I arrived at his house I got out and went to the door. I rang the doorbell and waited. Finally I heard the lock turn over and when Ryan opened the door all I could do was gape at him.

"Oh... it's not Sunday is it?" He asked me, rubbing his eyes. He looked like he'd literally just gotten out of bed. His hair was messy, and he was wearing the same clothes he'd had on the night before. His nose had swollen like my lip, and he also had a nasty blue-black bruise on his cheek that must have shown up overnight. He generally looked like he felt, crappy.

"No Ryan, it's not Sunday. Do you want me to tell Horatio you're not coming in today? After last night I think he'd understand if you wanted a personal day," I said to him.

"No no, I think I can get ready in time," he said to me. "You can come in and wait, I'm not going to make you stand out there alone."

"Oh uh, are you sure you don't want to just take the day off?" I asked, getting nervous.

"I'm sure. I know I look bad okay?" he laughed. "But come on, I'm a guy. I can shower and be dressed in 15 minutes," he said, and stepped aside, holding the door open for me.

I didn't really have a choice. I didn't want him to think I didn't trust him, because I did trust him. It just felt awkward, but I stepped through the doorway anyways. He led me to the living room, it was pretty blank. There was a couch and a chair, shelves with random things on them, a coffee table, and a TV.

"You can wait here," he said, throwing me the remote to the TV. Then he walked out of the room. Soon I heard the water of a shower running. I turned on the TV and flipped through a few channels. I found a crime show I enjoyed watching and left it there, but I put the TV on mute. The shower was still running so I got up and walked around the room.

It was really neat and tidy for having a single guy living in it. There were random books scattered on the coffee table. I picked one up; it had a book mark stuck in a little over half way. I heard the water shut off from the bathroom so I put the book down and made it look like I was comfortable. I turned the volume back up on the TV. A few minutes later Ryan came back into the room. He looked a lot better. Dressed for work, he was wearing a suit. I have to admit he looked good. Quite a dramatic change from before he'd left me. He'd spiked his hair and mixed with the rest of him, his bruise didn't look bad at all.

Before I'd had the chance to get up he had come over, put the TV back on mute, and plopped down on the sofa beside me. Close to me. So close our shoulders were touching. He smelled good too.

"Wow, you clean up good," I said to him and he just smiled.

"I know, but thanks anyways," he said.

I nudged him with my shoulder. "Funny Ryan." We sat in silence for a few seconds. I had thought I wanted to leave for work, but now I just wanted to sit there with him.

"How's your lip?" He finally asked.

"It hurt this morning but the two Tylenol's I took have kicked in. How's your nose? And did you realize you had a new bruise this morning?" I asked him.

A smile played on his lips. "No I hadn't. Where is it?" he asked me.

"It's here," I said, brushing my fingers across his left cheek.

We both sat and looked at one another for a few seconds. Finally we snapped out of it and he said:

"I guess we should get to work now."

"Yea... I guess we should," I replied, a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

**R&R please? **


	8. Chapter 8

The ride to the MDPD was silent until Ryan's cell phone rang. He answered it.

"Hello?" It was Eric on the other end. "Oh yea, okay sure I'll ask." He hung up and looked at me for a second before turning his eyes back towards the road. "Eric said Alexx is holding the autopsy on Madeliene Corbett in about a half an hour. He was wondering if you wanted to observe your first autopsy."

"First autopsy..." I murmured, "I suppose so." My stomach had tightened; I had never observed an autopsy before, not even 'behind the glass.'

Ryan glanced at me again. "You look a little nervous. Don't worry, I remember my first autopsy. It was a headless guy. Freaked me out quite a bit... but I'm sure Madeliene Corbett still has her head."

"Thank you, that makes me feel a lot better," I said sarcastically.

"Hey, at least you'll get to finally meet Alexx," he said, "she's great."

"Yea... great," I said, forcing a small smile.

When we arrived at the department Horatio greeted us at the entrance. He started talking. "Miss James you're here to observe an autopsy correct?"

"Yea I guess so. I might as well get the first one over with," I said. Horatio gave a small smile.

"It's really not as bad as it seems," he said to me. "Mr. Wolfe will you bring Cassandra to the autopsy room then come back to see me?"

"Sure H, come on Cassandra," Ryan said. I followed him down many hallways until we finally reached the autopsy room. Ryan quietly opened the door to the room. When we walked in a woman was standing over the body of a young girl who I assumed was Madeliene Corbett.

"Alexx," Ryan said to the woman, "this is Cassandra James, and I don't believe you've met her yet."

"No I haven't," Alexx said, covering the girl with a sheet and coming over to shake my hand.

"You haven't finished the autopsy yet have you Alexx?" Ryan asked. He smirked at me.

"No, I'm about to extract a bullet actually. You're welcome to stay Cassandra," she said to me. I had a feeling Ryan and Alexx were both laughing at me on the inside.

"Well I was sort of planning on seeing my first autopsy, but if all you have to do is extract a bullet, I'm good with that," I said to her.

"Trust me honey, there's a lot to see, even if it's just extracting a bullet," Alexx said to me.

"Well Horatio asked me to come see him after I brought Cassandra here. Have fun," he said to me, then turned and walked out the door.

I turned back to Alexx. She was already heading back over to the body.

"So where's the bullet?" I asked her.

"Her back, help me here," she said, handing me a pair of rubber gloves. I put them on and helped Alexx roll Madeliene onto her side. There was a hole about an inch wide underneath her left shoulder blade. Alexx took what looked like a pair of tweezers, and carefully pulled out a bullet. She dropped it into a little yellow envelope.

"Poor baby," she said as we laid Madeliene gently back onto her back. "This was the cause of death," she said, shaking the envelope. "We should get this to Calleigh as soon as possible."

"That's it? Well I have to admit, I thought I was in for a lot more."

"You're lucky this time honey, but next time you observe an autopsy it might be worse," Alexx said.

MEANWHILE

Ryan had gone back down the hall and into Horatio's office. Horatio was leaning on the front of his desk. The desk was really neat as Horatio didn't use it often.

"H, you wanted to see me?" Ryan asked as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Yes Mr. Wolfe," Horatio said looking at him. His head was cocked to one side. "You know the rules here right?"

Now Ryan cocked his head. "What rules are you talking about H?" he asked.

"The rules about... couples in the lab," Horatio answered arching his eyebrow at Ryan.

"Of course I know about those rules," Ryan said, before catching on. "Wait, you think Cassandra and me? Horatio we're not -"

"I know Ryan," Horatio interrupted, "I'm just warning you, I have to warn you. Try not to take it past friendship," he said, but smiled and Ryan swore he saw him wink, before leaving him in the room alone.

I was still with Alexx; unfortunately she'd offered to show me what a real autopsy was like.

"So, you're on the Corbett girl's case with Ryan right?" Alexx asked as she started cutting a Y incision.

"Yea... it's my first case," I said gulping as she pulled the knife down the skin more.

"What do you think of Ryan?" she asked, temporarily glancing up from her work.

"He's great," I said, a bit too dreamy not to notice. I think Alexx noticed too because she looked up again and gave me a look, but went back to work without saying anything. "I mean, he's helped me out a lot and stuff... y'know?"

"Mhm," she replied like she knew more than I was saying.

"I mean, he's great to work with, he knows a lot more than me... uh," I let the sentence hang.

"Honey, it's okay to have feelings for him." I let my mouth hang open for a second. She laughed. "I've seen you two around before, always together. You look good together. And Ryan looks happy for once."

"But – I, I don't have feelings for him," I said, even though now that I thought about it I wasn't completely sure. "He wasn't happy before?" I tried changing the subject.

"He was happy, but he didn't show it the way he does now. He's different - in a good way - since you've showed up," she smiled.

Just then Eric came into the room. "Cassandra, we have the girl's parents here for an interview. Ryan and I are going to do it, but you can come too if you want."

"Sure Eric thanks. I'll see you later Alexx," I said.

"Here, you might as well take this to Calleigh," she said, handing me the envelope with the bullet.

"Thanks," I took the envelope from her and followed Eric out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

"Eric, could you show me where the Ballistics Lab is? I still have a few places to find," I asked him.

"Yea, sure, it's down there," he said pointing to a door just down the hall. "And I'll be just in there," he said pointing in the opposite direction at a room with large windows. I could see a man and woman seated at a table. Ryan was in the room pacing, his hands on his head.

I raised my eyebrows at Eric, "Is Ryan always like that?" I asked.

"Yea, pretty much. I guess he still gets nervous before interviews," he answered, shrugging.

"Alright, well I'm going to bring this to Calleigh. I'll see you in a few, can't wait to see Ryan's interrogation techniques if he's already like that," I smiled at Eric.

He laughed. "See you soon."

I walked the rest of the way to the Ballistics Lab alone. When I reached the door I could hear someone talking, I put my ear up to the door to listen closer.

"Calleigh, I just think we really need to take a break. With the new rules in the lab, we just can't keep it up right now," a man's voice was saying.

"Okay, I understand maybe we should take a break," I heard Calleigh's voice.

I was straining so much to hear through the door, that it was too late to move when I heard the knob turning. The door swung open and, too late to catch my balance, I fell through the doorway, and into the arms of a brunette man with piercing brown eyes. He held me up until I had my feet firmly on the ground and stood up myself.

I turned around to look at them both. They stood there staring at me like I was crazy.

"Calleigh! And - sorry, didn't get your name?" I said, grinning, because it was the only thing I could think to do after the long awkward silence we'd just gone through.

"Detective Jake Berkeley, from Homicide" he offered his hand, though his face showed he wasn't sure if he should. I took his hand and shook it vigorously.

"Nice to meet you Jake! Cassandra James, CSI. I'm new," I said still smiling like an idiot.

"Nice to meet you too," he said warily. "I'll see you later Calleigh," he said waving at her, and walking out the door.

Calleigh turned to me. "Were you listening to us talking?"

"Well, I was trying not to, but, I just heard you and couldn't help it!" I blabbed everything, it seemed impossible to lie to her. "But I don't know what you two were talking about; it didn't make any sense to me. I promise."

She changed the subject. "Well did you come to see me for some reason?"

"Oh right, yea. This is the bullet Alexx took from Madeliene Corbett's body. She wanted me to bring it to you." I handed her the envelope with the bullet. "Well Eric and Ryan are expecting me to watch an interview with Madeliene's parents. I'll see you later." I said.

"You won't tell anyone what you did hear between Jake and I will you?" She asked before I was out the door.

"Not if you don't want me to," I smiled and walked out the door.

Back down the hall I saw Eric and Ryan in the room through the glass, now both sitting across from Mr. And Mrs. Corbett. I quietly opened the door and went in. There was a chair over at the side of the room that I pulled up on Ryan's right side, Eric was on his left.

They had temporarily stopped talking while I sat down. When I was finished Eric continued.

"Are you two sure you don't know of anyone else who would have wanted to hurt you or your daughter?"

Mrs. Corbett spoke up, they both looked normal so I assumed they were holding the drugs only, not using them. "No officers, we've already told you we were holding those drugs for Sanchez Bavario. We didn't want to give them to him until he'd paid us what he told us, 10 000, and he got mad, he just wanted the Heroin. And he must have -," she broke off and started to cry. Mr. Corbett shot Eric a look and put his arm around her. Ryan heaved a sigh.

"Well Mr. and Mrs. Corbett, you can go for now. But even you two are still suspects in this case, and we will be talking to you again," Ryan said. This made Mrs. Corbett cry even more, but her husband helped her up and a couple of officers lead them out of the room. Ryan sighed again.

"Sorry I missed it guys, I got, uh, sidetracked," I said.

"You didn't miss much. That was practically the whole thing. We also asked why they were holding the heroin in the first place." Eric told me.

"Mr. Corbett says his brother persuaded him. Said he'd only have to hold the drugs, it paid well and it was easy, you just had to keep the cops out of it," Ryan piped up.

"Well maybe we should talk to Mr. Corbett's brother," I looked at them, they nodded in agreement.

Later that day, after trying to talk to Mr. Corbett's brother, but not being able to find him anywhere, Ryan and I left to go home. This time he got in the driver's side.

"Ryan, do you like folk music?" I asked him half way to my house. I saw his eyes flick towards the radio 

and see that the station was set to the one I'd changed it to that morning.

"Of course not," he answered, and said nothing more of it. I smiled to myself.

When we reached my house I didn't get out right away.

"Ryan, do you want to come in, for coffee or something?" I asked him, I don't know why. He looked surprised.

"Well, I don't know Cassandra..."

"Come on Ryan, it's just coffee I swear, as friends," I said making an X over my chest with my finger.

He still looked uneasy about it but then he said "Okay," and we got out and went to my front door. I was searching my pockets for my keys, when Ryan turned the knob and the door opened.

"I swear I locked that," I said to him. He raised an eyebrow. I pushed the door open the rest and walked into the house.

"Just wait here, I want to make sure I don't have anything lying around, you know, lady things," I laughed at the look on his face and went down the hall into my living room. There was Saddie sitting on my couch watching Judge Judy. I let out a little yelp because I didn't expect her.

"Saddie!? Why are you here?" I asked her, completely forgetting I'd told her where I kept my spare key outside.

"I thought we could hang out tonight, you know like girls night?" She noticed the look on my face, like I didn't want her to know something. "Wait a minute, who's here?"

"No one Saddie, I just - uh – don't really want to hang out tonight, tired you know," I told her, because I knew what having Ryan come in would look like, especially in her point of view since she seemed to think I was in love with him.

"No someone's here, I know it," she eyed me suspiciously.

"Seriously, no one is here. Go, out the back door," I pulled on her sleeve to make her follow, but she pulled away from me, I had grabbed her again when I heard, "Cassandra? Where's your bathroom I just..." the sentence trailed off as Ryan made his way into the room and saw me and Saddie half wrestling, me to get her out, her to see who was visiting. I endured my second awkward silence that day. Saddie finally turned to me, grinning, and raised her eyebrows.

"Ryan Wolfe!" she exclaimed, "I haven't seen you around the lab in a while, you've been hanging out with Cassandra so much!"

"Yea I remember you... I think," he said looking over at me. I just shrugged at him.

"Saddie here was just leaving weren't you Saddie?" I looked at her and smiled.

"Oh of course, I was just about to leave, I won't get in your guys way," she was still grinning, obviously she had the wrong impression. Ryan was completely baffled. She grabbed her coat and purse and left, she usually walked home.

"Okay what was that about?" He asked when she was gone.

"Well, Saddie seems to think me and you are an item," I said, wandering through the living room and into the kitchen. I got the coffee going. I came back to find him flipping through channels on the TV.

"She thinks we're a couple? That's funny." He said. "Why was she in your house alone anyways?"

I sat down next to him. "She's my best friend believe it or not. I trust her, so she happens to know where my spare keys are," I said. He put Judge Judy back on and we sat and watched her yell at some man who thought he could lie to her.

"That Judge Judy is good," Ryan told me. I laughed and got up to get two cups. I came back and handed him one.

"She is good."

Most of the night we just talked. Ryan told me about living in Miami, told me he'd have to show me around sometime when we weren't working. I told him about moving from New York to Miami for my job. Finally at 10, after about 3 hours of sitting and talking, he got up to leave. I followed him to the front door.

"Ryan tonight was great. Thanks for coming in, I enjoyed talking to you." I looked up at him. He was frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?" I asked putting my hand on his arm.

"I just need to tell you what Horatio talked to me about today, before this turns into something more." He said, and took a breath. "He reminded me about couples in the lab, the rules. Cassandra, we can't be more than good friends." I took my hand off his arm.

"I didn't say I wanted to be -,"

"I know, I just wanted to tell you before you did," he interrupted. "I'm sure we can do this again though," he smiled at me. I nodded and watched him go to the Hummer. When he was in I closed the door and went back to watch some more TV, even more confused than I was after I had talked to Alexx.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke up the next morning to the 'beep, beep, beep' of my alarm clock. I couldn't sleep last night; I hadn't stopped thinking about Ryan's words before he left. "We can't be more than good friends." I was, or thought I was sure before he'd told me that little tid bit of information that I didn't want to be more than friends. Now I just didn't know what I wanted with Ryan. I reluctantly got out of bed and starting rummaging through my drawers to find something to wear. I didn't bother with a shower, I was too tired and it wasn't like I was stinking up a storm.

I went out to my car, my measly little car compared to the hummer I'd been transported around in the last few days, and headed for the MDPD. When I arrived I went to sign in, when a woman with reddish blonde hair came up to me.

"Are you Cassandra James?" She asked.

"Uh, yes," I said it like I wasn't even sure if it was my name.

"Oh very nice to finally meet you! I'm Natalia! Natalia Boa Vista." She didn't hold out a hand and I didn't offer mine. We stood there together, yet another awkward silence.

"Did you need something or did you just come over to say hi?" I asked, and it sounded pretty rude. "Sorry, bad morning," I apologized before she said anything.

"Oh it's fine. Well, I have this from DNA," she held out a sheet of paper. There was a picture of the book from Madeliene Corbett's room, and a tiny photo of a balding man with a thin moustache, much like Sanchez Bavario's. "His blood was on this book, it wasn't the little girls. His name is Thomas Corbett."

"You mean this is Mr. Corbett's brother? The one we've been trying to contact?"

"It sure is. Horatio has finally contacted him; a few officers are on their way to pick him up. He'll be here for interrogation in the next few hours."

"That is great Natalia, thank you," the possibility of finding Madeliene's killer had brightened my day. "Do any of the others know about this yet?"

"Besides Horatio, I don't think so. He'd contacted Thomas Corbett before we knew this was his blood, so they know he's coming, but they don't know that he's now our number one suspect."

"Would you give me the pleasure of giving them the news?" I asked.

"Sure, I have other work to do anyways. I'll see you around, nice meeting you," she replied smiling.

"You too Natalia," I said, walking off towards the break room to see if anyone was there.

To my surprise I found Eric, Ryan and Calleigh all in the break room, sipping from coffee cups. Ryan didn't look up as I entered; he was reading a sheet of paper, just said "Hey Cassandra." Eric and Calleigh were deep in discussion and didn't even notice me. I sat down beside Ryan at the table.

"Hey, I've got great news," I said to Ryan, leaning closer to him and almost whispering not wanting to disturb Calleigh and Eric's conversation.

"Really? What's that?" He said setting aside the piece of paper and looking down at the piece I was carrying. I put it on the table in front of us. He looked it over. "That's Mr. Corbett's brother," he stated.

"Yep, we've got a number one suspect."

"And Horatio is bringing him in soon isn't he?" He asked.

"That's what Natalia – oh I finally met her, this is really her good news – says. Do you think we'll get a confession with this little bit of evidence?" I asked.

Ryan and I were really close, our arms were touching, and we were both wearing t-shirts. My skin tingled; I really liked being that close to him. We must have looked almost as if we didn't want Eric and Calleigh to hear us because Calleigh finally said, "What have you got there Cassandra?" I noticed Eric looked a little huffy, with his arms crossed.

I turned the paper towards Calleigh and Eric. This piqued Eric's interest and he leaned forwards a little. "This blood belongs to Mr. Corbett's brother. The one he said persuaded him into holding the drugs. Horatio is bringing him in for questioning today, we were wondering if we'll get a confession or if he has a good excuse for his blood being on his niece's book, in her room."

"Well he better hope he does because this isn't looking too good for him," Calleigh responded. She moved the paper in front of Eric so he could see it better. He just nodded his head and looked away from it. Calleigh suddenly looked angry at him.

"Well I haven't gotten anything from that bullet yet. I better go do that now," she said and walked out of the room. Eric didn't say anything, just got up and left without a word.

"What was that about?" I asked Ryan when he was gone.

"I don't know. Since Calleigh started dating this Jake Berkeley guy, Eric's seemed a little jealous or something."

"Calleigh's dating Jake Berkeley!?" I said, and he squinted at me.

"Yes, why?" Ryan asked.

I looked around nervously. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" I looked at him as serious as I could. It felt wrong breaking my promise to Calleigh but I had to tell someone.

Ryan frowned. "I guess I promise."

"Well the other day I had to bring that bullet to Calleigh. I could hear someone talking so I listened through the door, and I could hear someone, it was Jake, saying that they should take a break. Calleigh just agreed and didn't look too happy when Jake opened the door and I fell into the room." I took a breath. "Do you think he was breaking up with her?"

Ryan had raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he was..." Then he flashed me a smile, "You were listening to them and you got caught!"

"Shut up!" I said punching his arm. After that we didn't know what else to say about it so we stopped talking for a moment. I stayed close to him, and I don't think he cared.

"Hey, when's your next day off?" He suddenly asked me.

"I think I get Saturday off, why?"

"Well I did tell you I'd show you around Miami sometime. Would Saturday be okay?" He asked me quietly.

"Saturday sounds awesome," I said.


	11. Chapter 11

Ryan and I were still in the break room, sitting extremely close and laughing at every little thing we talked about. I'd gone from a bad mood that morning to very giggly. We had just burst out in a fresh fit of laughter when Horatio Caine entered the room. We stopped abruptly and we each moved over a little, so we at least weren't touching.

"Hey H, do you have Thomas Corbett ready for interrogation?" Ryan asked him trying to sound serious. Horatio looked us over and then looked down at the floor.

"He is here and ready, but Calleigh and Eric have decided they would take it. You two can sit in here all day, or you can leave. There isn't much else for you to do but if we need you I'll be sure to call you in." Horatio told us still looking at the floor.

"So basically you're saying you're giving us the rest of the day off?" I half asked half told.

"I said you could leave but if we needed you we'd call you in," he said putting his hands on his hips.

Ryan looked at me. I didn't want to leave him but we both had our own cars there that day and would have to leave separately.

"I guess so, if there's nothing for us to do..." I said.

Ryan and I said our goodbyes at the PD and went our separate ways.

The rest of the week I didn't see much of Ryan or really much of anyone at the lab. No one had filled me in on how the interrogation went between Thomas Corbett and Calleigh and Eric. I hadn't even seen Calleigh or Eric around at all. I spent most of my time reading a book in the break room alone, or working on different cases, also usually alone. One afternoon while I was waiting to see if AFIS would find a hit on a separate case, Jake Berkeley walked in.

"Cassandra James, we meet again," he said. I'd seen him around a little after the 'incident' but we never had a real conversation.

"Uh, hey, it was Jake right?" I knew who he was but felt like I needed to say more than 'hi'.

"Yes. Hey, I've seen you around here a lot, I've been meaning to ask you something," he said and put his arm up to lean against the wall beside me. I felt uncomfortable with him that close to me.

"What do you want?" I asked suddenly wanting AFIS to go faster so I could leave.

"You and Wolfe, are you two, you know, together?" He asked flat out. At first I didn't know what he meant, but then it clicked.

"Oh no, we're just good friends that's all," I said moving over a little. "We know about the rules," I added.

"Well, what would you think about me and you..." he said moving closer to me again. I looked at him; he seemed so sure of himself.

"Don't you know about the rules Jake? Didn't you break up with Calleigh because of them?" It was a solid fact throughout the lab now. Everyone knew Calleigh and Jake were no longer dating. I had started talking quieter.

"Yea but Calleigh's Calleigh, I got over her, but you're different, I could keep everything a secret for you," he was smirking a little now.

"You don't even know me," I said turning to him.

"Ever since you fell into my arms I've liked you, it was like catching an angel... what do you say?"

"Ugh, that was lame," I muttered under my breath. I got close to him, close enough to make him think I was considering, and then I whispered to him "Not in this lifetime Mr. Berkeley." I smiled and walked (fast) out of the lab, leaving AFIS for later.

I was a little mad after my encounter with Jake, so I decided to find Ryan. I was headed to the locker room to look for him. I was walking pretty fast, when I reached the door I looked over my shoulder, I don't even know why, maybe to make sure Jake wasn't following me. I wasn't paying any attention and just kept walking, until I smacked right into Ryan and we both toppled over. We landed in a heap on the floor; I was on top of him, rather awkwardly. I looked down, and he was smiling. I smiled too.

"Hey," I whispered. "I was looking for you."

"You found me," he said back. Neither of us made any attempts at getting up.

"Ryan." Oh no, I could feel it, that feeling in my stomach, but this time I liked it. No, I told myself, you can't be more than friends! But I wasn't listening; I was just leaning closer and closer. He didn't move, at least not until the door opened and Eric walked in.

"Wolfe, are you in here?" He didn't see us right away. Ryan tried pushing me up, and I was trying to get up, but like I said, we were laying quite awkwardly.

"Ow!" Eric looked down.

"What the hell are you two doing?" He didn't yell it, or even sound mad, he just sounded a bit amused. Finally Ryan pushed me off and got up, leaving me on the floor.

"Eric! It really doesn't look like what it looks like!" Ryan stammered. I pushed myself up and sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Well what is it then Wolfe?" He asked raising his eyebrows. He smirked at me.

"It was an accident Eric, I came in and ran right into Ryan, and we fell!"

"Okay Cassandra, whatever you say." Obviously it was sarcastic.

"Eric! Seriously it was an accident!" I didn't sound very convincing.

"Okay okay, calm down you two! Ryan, Horatio wanted to see you." He said looking at Ryan.

"Oh, okay Eric, I'll be there in a minute," he said.

"Okay, I'll tell H," Eric said, and walked out of the lab. I was still sitting cross-legged on the floor. Ryan sat on the bench at the side of the wall.

"Talk about awkward," he said, rubbing the back of his head. I let out a short laugh.

"Tell me about it," I said looking around, slightly embarrassed. "Did I hurt you?" I said when I noticed he still had his hand on his head.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Uh... when we were laying there, were you about to - ?" he trailed off.

"Kiss you? I'm not positive, but I think I was." He looked up, then back down.

"Still on for Saturday?" I wanted to make sure I hadn't scared him away.

"Yea of course... well I'd better go talk to Horatio," Ryan said as he got up. "I'll call you tomorrow in the morning or something." I watched him walk out and I knew. I had a huge crush on Ryan Wolfe.

I really didn't have much more work to do so I went looking for someone else to talk to and found Calleigh in the Ballistics Lab.

"Hey Calleigh, what's up?" I asked casually entering the room.

"About to see if the striations of this bullet match the one used to kill Madeliene Corbett," she said placing the two bullets under a microscope. I didn't say anything at first but after 10 very long minutes I couldn't take it anymore.

"Do they match?!" I almost yelled it out loud. Calleigh jumped.

"Sorry Cassandra almost forgot you were there. Here take a look," she said moving so I could take a peek.

"Oh Calleigh, this is great," I said, grinning. The striations definitely matched.

"Oh it is isn't it? Now all we have to do is find that gun," she said.

"Thomas Corbett!" I almost shouted again. She gave me a puzzled look. "Sorry again Calleigh, no one ever told me about you and Eric and the interrogation. How'd it go?" I asked eagerly.

"Oh it went pretty well, except... Eric," she said his name and scowled.

"What's up with you and Eric?" I asked. Calleigh and Eric cared about each other a lot, you could tell, but they were constantly arguing.

"I just hate his interrogation techniques. He does more threatening than anything else," she told me.

"Oh, I guess when I did the interview with him and Ryan I wasn't there long enough to really see what he's like in interrogation."

"Well anyways," she went on, "Thomas' excuse was that he spent a lot of time with his niece since her parents never seemed to be there for her. He said he cut his finger one night when he was visiting, she'd asked him to open the package of a new toy and he cut his finger with his pocket knife."

"That's rather elaborate don't you think?" I asked.

"I do, Horatio is having Thomas Corbett's home searched. If they find the gun that goes to this bullet," she said holding it between her fingers, "I'll bet he killed her." She put the bullet away and walked toward the door. Before she left she turned back toward me and said:

"Oh and Cassandra, no making out in the locker room."

**Haa, I keep putting "it" off when I think of other things that can happen.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Short chapter but at least it's something eh? Lot's of Cassandra rambling too.**

Apparently Eric didn't know how to keep a secret. Not that it was a secret! It was more of a rumour I guess, since it really was an accident, but I was sort of leaning in to kiss Ryan when Eric came in. It probably did look a lot like we were making out to him if he only noticed that I was on top of Ryan on the floor. Still though, we told him it was an accident! At least we weren't caught in the showers together or something! That would make this Hell for us, and the rumour going around probably wouldn't be a rumour.

Rumours do travel fast at the Miami-Dade Police Department though! I'd stayed in the Ballistics Lab at least 15 minutes after Calleigh had left to recover from my shock and embarrassment. I think my mouth hung open for at least 5 of those minutes. When I finally left, everyone, and I mean everyone, even lab technicians, officers and CSI's that weren't on my team looked at me and smirked, or stifled a laugh, or turned to the person they were working with to tell them. I remembered what Ryan told me about the rules and prayed that it didn't get as far as the dreaded (or so I was told) Rick Stetler. I headed down to the morgue to see if Alexx was there, plus it was a morgue. There was not going to be a lot of living bodies down there.

I opened the door, I was always kind of freaked out going in there, like a dead body would get up and chase me out, but I pushed the door open all the way and stepped in. Alexx was just putting a body back. I silently thanked God I missed it. She stepped away from the body and turned to me. She was smiling too!

"Oh my God, you've heard about it already too? Down here?!" I rasped.

"Mhm, well honey maybe you shouldn't have been lying on the floor on top of Ryan Wolfe in a place where it looks like you're trying not to get caught."

I threw my hands up. "Alexx! Do you actually believe this? It was an accident!" She looked up from the file folder she was holding and went "Mhm" again before looking back down.

"Alexx, can I tell you something that happened today? I think I need to tell someone," I asked, changing the subject at the same time.

She put down the folder and crossed her arms. "Of course you can honey, go on."

"Well it's kind of weird for me, but you know Jake Berkeley?" I was almost whispering, even though there was no one around. Alexx nodded.

"Well he sort asked me out today," I gave her a disgusted look.

"What did you say? Please tell me you didn't say yes, he was recently with Calleigh and he broke up with her because of the rules in the lab! He shouldn't be asking anyone out!" Her look changed from alarm to sadness. "And you and Ryan! Cassandra don't forget about Ryan!"

"Whoa whoa Alexx, I didn't expect you of all people to get so freaked out about it. Of course I didn't say yes to Jake! It would hurt Calleigh; I don't want to hurt her. Then there's the whole Ryan thing..." I said, almost talking to myself now. "Alexx, Ryan! ...I don't know what I feel for him!" I was getting frustrated. After our run-in in the locker room I was sure I had a crush on Ryan, but it was still so confusing! How would we even be able to be together, with the new rules in the lab?! I didn't even know if Ryan felt the same way. I mean he didn't seem to mind when I fell right on top of him, but maybe he was just trying to make me feel less embarrassed. What about when I told him I thought I was about to kiss him? He didn't really react unless you count almost running out of the room as a reaction.

"Honey, there might be certain rules here, but if you can keep a relationship outside of work, strictly co-workers here, it could work out you know. No one has to know." She smiled.

I shook my head. "I don't think I'd be able to Alexx. I don't want to risk my job, and I especially don't want Ryan to risk his job for me."

She nodded knowingly. "Don't worry Hun, when the time comes for you to make your decision I'm sure you'll make it right."

"Thanks Alexx, I'm glad I can talk to you... So what was that guys COD?"

"Mr. Wolfe thank you for coming to see me again," Horatio Caine paused as he looked around the room he called his office.

"No problem H, but if this is about Cassandra and I, that was a complete and total accident," he stopped realizing Horatio might not have heard yet. _Nah_, he thought, _obviously he's heard too, everyone's heard about it, damn Eric._

"Mr. Wolfe, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not aware of your run-in in the locker room this afternoon. Right now I have to tell you something important. I will be speaking to the rest of the team privately, but of course you can tell Miss James first if you feel necessary." Horatio said leaning back in his chair.

Ryan couldn't help smiling; sometimes he really loved his boss. "Thanks H, well what was it you needed to tell me?"

"Sanchez Bavario is dead." He stated.

Ryan was speechless for a moment. "How?" He finally said.

"Appears to be a suicide. Apparently found hanging in the Lazy Dayz bar, in a room on the upper floor." Horatio looked up at Ryan seriously. "Someone is going to have to process the scene to make sure, are you up for it Mr. Wolfe?" Horatio asked him, now turning in his chair to look out the window onto the street.

"Of course H, anyone in particular you want me to bring? Calleigh, Eric -"

"Mr. Wolfe?"

"Yea?"

"Just bring Miss James with you, no need to ask." Ryan smiled at Horatio again.

"Okay Horatio, thanks," he replied heading out of the office.

**Thank you JauntyChick, N1kki1984 and iluvcsi4ever for the awesome reviews. And seriously if you haven't read JauntyChick's stories or iluvcsi4ever's CSI: NY story, go do that NOW:D **


	13. Chapter 13

I was standing around, not sure where to go when I heard Ryan calling me from down the hall.

"Cassandra!" I looked in his direction, he was waving at me. I rolled me eyes and started walking towards him.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you," he said when I finally walked up to him.

"Oh, I was just in the ballistics lab, and then I went to talk to Alexx, then I ended up here." I didn't mention what Calleigh had said to me or what I talked to Alexx about.

He looked confused for a moment, but shook it off. "Horatio just talked to me, he gave me some pretty interesting news."

"Really, what's that?" I asked.

"Well, Sanchez Bavario is dead. It was a suicide, but we need to go process the scene to make sure, I just paged Alexx, she's coming with us too since we can't do anything until she checks out the body." Ryan seemed excited.

"Wow, that is interesting, but okay, Calleigh and Eric aren't coming?" I had to ask, I was really hoping they weren't.

"No, it's a small scene and most likely a suicide, so it's just you, me and Alexx today."  
I let out a small sigh of relief. Ryan looked at me. "So you've noticed?"

"Obviously Ryan, Eric has told everyone! Calleigh even told me 'no making out in the locker rooms!'" I said in a rush. Ryan went a little red.

"Oh I hope this doesn't reach Stetler," he said shaking his head.  
I had to laugh.

"Let's hope it doesn't but we really _weren't_ doing anything. Anyway should we get going?"

"Yea let's go." He said turning and heading towards the door. I walked after him.

"Will Alexx meet us there?" I asked as we headed out to, yet again, a silver Hummer.

"Yea, she needs to get the M.E.'s van, to bring the body back, so she's going to meet us there."

"Uhm – uh, the body is still there?" I stammered, I did not want to see a hanging Sanchez Bavario.

"Yea it is, sorry about that but if you're going to be a CSI you're going to have to get used to seeing dead bodies," he replied climbing into the driver's side.

I made a noise in the back of my throat. "Where is this crime scene anyways?"

"We're going back to Lazy Dayz baby!" He exclaimed.

"Wow, do you always get this excited when you're going to a crime scene with dead bodies hanging around? Haha, get it? Hanging around?"_ I am so lame_, I thought.

"That was lame Cassandra," Ryan said, confirming my thoughts. "But at least you have a sense of humour about your line of work."

I grinned at him and turned to look out the window.

We pulled into a parking space at the bar. I got out and looked around.

"This place looks even worse in the day light," I said heading towards the entrance. We walked in and the bartender looked up. He recognized Ryan right away, but squinted at me for a minute while we stood there taking in the atmosphere, there was no one there. The last time we were there we'd caused quite a disturbance. Finally the bartender recognized me.

"Are you two the cops?" He asked.

"MDPD," Ryan said moving his jacket so the bartender could see his badge at his waist. My shirt was short enough that he could see it if he looked.

"Oh finally, I've been waiting for someone to show up! That guy, he would rent that extra room upstairs, I never asked any questions about it, but I never saw anyone leave that room last night so I decided to go check it out this morning, and I saw... him! Just hanging there, and -" he stopped talking. I realized this bartender wasn't a bad guy, and for some reason I knew he had nothing to do with it. I felt bad for him.

"Sir, we're going to have to bring you in for questioning and the like," Ryan started. The bartender looked at him with wide eyes.

"Ryan, sorry, I think he just needs to relax for a bit, maybe see someone about this? Don't worry sir we need to question you because you found the body, we aren't assuming anything. Can I take your name?"

"Sure, yea, my name is Ben Whittaker," he told me. I got him to write it on a pad of paper I'd brought from the hummer. I called for someone to come pick him up.

"Alexx isn't here yet, should we go up?" I asked Ryan when Whittaker was outside waiting for a patrol car to pick him up.

"Yea let's go." We went towards the back of the bar. Ryan started heading up the stairs to the room, but I stopped at the bottom. Ryan was half way up when he noticed I wasn't following. He looked down at me. "What now?" He asked a hint of impatience in his voice.

"I just, I don't know - there's a dead body up there, but it's you know... a hanging one!" I said to him. "Shouldn't we wait for Alexx?"

He rolled his eyes but smiled and came back down. "We'll go at the same time, I'll go into the room first, and if it's too gruesome you can stay out here, okay?" He asked putting his hand on the small of my back. Well _that_ got my mind off of the things upstairs so I started going up without saying anything.

When I reached the top I stopped and pulled Ryan in front of me.

"I thought you were actually going to go all the way," he said.

"No way, you told me you'd go in first, so you're going in first," I replied, pressing my hands against his back.

"Cassandra, don't wrinkle it!" I didn't realize I'd actually grabbed onto him.

"Oops, sorry," I loosened my grip on his blazer.

"Jeez, are you ready now?"

"Of course," I replied, "I am a CSI." He opened the door really fast. I hid my face behind Ryan before I saw anything too gruesome.

"No..." was all he said.

**Yay, Cliffhanger!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Not completely sure if there are really 'panic' buttons on the walkie-talkies or not. Hope you likey.**

I heard the tone in Ryan's voice and went stiff. I could tell something was wrong. I was scared to move but I forced myself to look over his shoulder. When I saw a man I recognized as Thomas Corbett standing there with a gun pointed straight at us I felt my blood turn cold. Ryan was frozen, but I felt his hand close around my wrist.

"There are two of us and one of you Corbett, take your eyes off of one of us and we'll have you down before you notice anything." Ryan threatened.

Thomas just smiled. That's when I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel of a gun against my neck. I gulped and shook my wrist around in Ryan's hand to alert him. He squeezed my wrist but I had the feeling he didn't know what to do, until I felt him move closer. We were close enough now that the two gunmen couldn't see what was happening between us, but Ryan knew exactly what he was doing, and luckily I was on his left side. He was searching my belt for my walkie-talkie, it seemed like forever but was only a matter of seconds before he'd found it and pressed the 'panic' button, sending a call out to all the patrol cars for backup.

I felt the gun barrel pushing into my neck harder now, the man behind me put his arm around my front and started dragging me backwards. I didn't try and fight him; I was too scared to do anything.

"What're you going to do now Wolfe?" I heard Thomas sneer. "Your little girlfriend is in trouble, but you're helpless now." I heard him walking, no doubt towards Ryan. The man who had me continued pushing me in front of him, back down the stairs, gun still up against my neck.

_Omgz, Ryan's POV!_

I couldn't think about anything other than Cassandra at that moment. I didn't take my mind off of her the whole time I was stuck in that room with Thomas Corbett. I was helpless after he'd made me throw my gun aside.

"Poor little Wolfie, who knows what my friend is doing to your girl down there. You two deserve what you're going to get." He spat at me, but I didn't understand why he said we'd deserve what we'd get. I noticed Bavario's body, still there.

"You're here for the drugs aren't you, you want to sell them?" I said to him trying to stall anything he was going to do, but he'd gotten closer over the past few seconds. Things were moving fast and I just prayed someone heard the call. Just then he hit me, very hard across the face. I wasn't sure what he even hit me _with_ but I soon felt the warm trickle of blood down my cheek. He hit me again, and again, and then wouldn't stop. It was coming so fast I lost track of what part of my body was hurting at what time. I couldn't fight back, he had a gun. Soon enough I was on the floor, gasping for air, sure my nose was broken again before it was even healed all the way, and I thought I quite possibly had a broken rib. After he was finished beating on me Thomas pulled me up and shoved me out the door, I was surprised when he _helped_ me down the stairs instead of deciding to push me down them, but I never forgot about his gun pressed into my back. When we got down the stairs there were no patrol cars, and Alexx wasn't there yet either. I had no choice but to follow him out the back doors of the bar.

Back to good ol' Cassandra POV

When the unknown man who'd shoved me out the back door just made me throw my gun aside and sit down by their car, I was really surprised. He kept his gun to the back of my neck and told me not to look at him though. I did as I was told and hoped Thomas wasn't hurting Ryan. Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I was not going to cry in front of this man. He kept me facing the back exit of the bar, and I soon found out why. I noticed Thomas first, and then I saw Ryan. When I saw Ryan I stood up, the man behind me grabbed me again and pushed the gun against me harder. Ryan looked horrible. Tears threatened to come again but I held them back. I felt awful that I was still unharmed and he looked like he'd taken a beating.

The man behind me shook me and said "look at him!" I didn't understand why they were doing this to us, or what they were going to do now. Was it only because we found them before they could get away with anything? Did they just want to bash a couple of cops before running off with their drugs? Thomas Corbett came up to us and shoved Ryan against the car. I heard him inhale sharply. I tried turning to the man holding me, but he took a handful of my hair and pulled my head back before I could look at him.

"Please – please don't hurt him anymore," I choked out, still fighting back tears.

"Shut up!" He sounded a bit scared himself; I guess he didn't expect Thomas to beat Ryan up so badly. "Thomas!" He snapped. "What are we going to do with these two?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me," he replied.

"You shouldn't have beaten him up, if we get caught..."

"We won't get caught!" He yelled as he checked Ryan for any backups. I noticed Ryan had his head down, like he thought we were done for, and that bugged the hell out of me.

"You two _won't_ get away with this!" I said, as fiercely as I could manage under the circumstances.

"She's right!" I snapped my attention to where the voice came from, pulling my own hair in doing so. Ryan looked up too but Corbett pushed him against the car harder and I heard Ryan groan.

"Come any closer and I'll shoot him," he warned. I heard myself whimper and the man holding me gripped my hair tighter, and also lifted his gun back to my head.

"The same goes for her!" He yelled, although I could feel him shaking as he held me, I knew he wouldn't do it.

"You know you can't do it, it's too late now, please put the gun down Mr. Corbett and... Corbett?" and in that one sentence I knew who had come to our rescue, Horatio Caine, but he sounded confused, did he say Corbett _twice_? I tried turning to look toward him again, and this time I caught out of the corner of my eye that it wasn't only Horatio, but just like our little bar fight before, Eric and about 5 patrol officers were also there.

"Go back inside and leave out the front, maybe we'll keep these two alive!" Thomas threatened again.

"No, put the gun down," Horatio seemed incredibly calm considering two of his CSI's lives were being threatened; I wondered if he'd noticed the state Ryan was in.

I looked over at Thomas, he was smiling and looking at the man who had me. I saw his mouth forming the words, "One, two, three." I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting.

Then I heard Horatio shout "No!" and then two shots. The hand caught up in my hair automatically loosened and then slid away from me as the man, Mr. Corbett, Madaliene's father, fell away from me. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, but when I finally looked down I confirmed it was Mr. Corbett, in on it all along. I suddenly remembered about the other shot and looked around frantically. I looked towards the car, Ryan and Thomas were both on the ground, except Ryan was moving around in pain, and Thomas was still.

As Eric checked the two bodies, I went over to Ryan. He had managed to sit up against the car. I knelt down. He looked totally exhausted, but then he flung his arms around me pulled my down right beside him. I hugged him back, careful not to hurt him more. I couldn't keep the tears in anymore and started crying, which then turned into sobbing. I couldn't tell if he was crying too, or how much pain he was in, but I think he knew I just needed to let it out now. We sat like that for a good 10 or 15 minutes before Horatio finally walked over. He removed his dark sunglasses and looked down at us. We'd stopped holding each other and we sitting side by side, with our backs against the Corbett brother's car. I was still crying, but not as hard now.

"Mr. Wolfe and Miss James, you two need to go to the hospital now." He looked at Ryan's bloodied face and noticed how he flinched when trying to take a deep breath. I was unscathed, the only problem I had was that my hair had quite a knot in it, and I was still terrified. "Mr. Wolfe I think you may have a few more days stay than Cassandra." Ryan nodded and tried pushing himself up off the ground, but failed miserably. I stood up and looked at Horatio. He waved over two of the patrol officers and they helped Ryan up, I could tell it hurt, a lot. We made our way over to the ambulance that had arrived a while ago, I walked slowly behind them. The EMT's took over when we got there, I wasn't hurt at all so they let me ride up front, to Dade Memorial Hospital.

**Yes, I do actually research all of poor Ryan's injuries. xD Does this chapter make up for the cliffy?**  



	15. Chapter 15

**After the last chapter, this one will probably be super boring, but I _needed_ it in here! NEEDED IT! And it's long, 1, 595 words to be exact, yet it's all conversation!  
**

People were staring at me; I was pacing the halls of Dade Memorial waiting for someone to tell me when I could see Ryan. I was still worried sick. Horatio had forced me to get checked out too, even though I knew I was fine, and I was.

I sat down in a chair and put my head in my hands. Tears were going to come again sometime, but right now I was still capable of holding them in.

I felt someone sit in the chair beside me. "Hey Cass, you okay?" I looked up to see Saddie sitting beside me. I smiled at her.

"I'm fine, but worried."

"I understand, listen I just talked to Horatio, he wanted me to tell you that Ryan's fine but he really needs to rest. H wants you to come home with me."

"No." I said stubbornly. "I'm not leaving until I get to see Ryan." She put her hand on my shoulder.

"You won't get to see him tonight, okay? So please just come home with me right now. Even if Ryan wanted to see you, the doctor's won't let you, besides he's probably sedated or something."

"Fine," I stood up and started toward the door. I knew I shouldn't be angry, especially at Saddie. They were Horatio's orders and I knew she was probably right about the doctors. I walked out into the huge parking lot of the hospital. I had no idea where she parked her car so I had to cut short my dramatic exit and wait for her to catch up.

"Hey, don't be mad at me Cass, it's just what Horatio wants, and honestly it's better than you hanging out at the hospital all night long, worrying," she said as she caught up to me. She started across the parking lot and I followed.

"I know I'm sorry. I think it's better if I'm away from the hospital for a while too."

"Great," she replied. "I think I just may have to stop at the store for some plain old vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce though."

"Oh, my favourite!" I said enthusiastically. She laughed as we approached her car. I got in the front passengers seat. She slid in beside me.

Before starting the car she looked at me and said: "If you don't want to talk about anything that happened today you don't have to, but if you want or feel you have to, I'm all ears."

"Thank you." I answered, but didn't imply anything else.

After stopping at the nearest grocery store to stalk up on snacks, and a few chick flicks from the movie rental place, we were at Saddie's place. It had been quite a while since I'd been to her house; she usually hung out at my place.

"Oh you painted?" I asked, after looking around the front room. It was now a bright shade of yellow, it seemed to match Saddie's happy and outgoing personality.

"Yea, I just love it!" she exclaimed. "I wanted to paint the walls blue and just add a big yellow sun on the roof, but my Mom talked me out of it." I laughed, typical Saddie, wanting to paint a sun on her roof. I plopped down on the couch and she put one of the DVD's in. She didn't make any sign of skipping through the previews, so I took the time to go into her kitchen and make popcorn. She came in behind me.

"What are you doing girly? The ice cream comes first! But who needs bowls?" She took the whole tub out of the freezer and grabbed two spoons. I opened the microwave so the popcorn wouldn't burn and left it alone. I followed her back into the front room.

She turned to me. "So? Want to talk about it? Yes, no? Want to just talk about Ryan, before any of tonight?" She was probing, she wanted to make me say out loud that yes, I liked Ryan Wolfe.

"Well if you don't mind I'd like to run you through what happened at the bar, just so I can smooth it all out myself, I was so terrified the whole time I wasn't thinking clearly. I just want to try and make sense of it."

The movie wasn't even 5 minutes in before she paused it. "Okay, tell me all you want, and I'll try not to interrupt."

I started blabbing away about the day. How Alexx was supposed to meet us there and didn't, the bar tender, and me just knowing he was innocent. I was glad he had gotten out front before we went up, but I was also not so sure about I a$$umption now. How had he not seen Mr. Corbett and Thomas? There could have been good hiding spots, I didn't notice. On the way in I was too afraid of the body upstairs, on the way down I was terrified for our lives. Saddie nodded and said "mhm" at all the right times, throwing in a few questions. When I got to the part about seeing Ryan I stopped. I couldn't believe it was harder for me to talk about the way he looked, rather than talk about the gun being held against the side of my neck.

"I just couldn't believe it Saddie," my voice cracked. "I feel so... wrong, like I should have been hurt too, Ryan took all of that and nothing at all happened to me!"

"I know how you feel Cass, but it's not your fault Ryan was hurt, your life was in danger too, and I'm sure he knows that. He's probably happy you're not hurt." It was the most she'd said since I started rambling.

I paused for a moment, and then asked "Who shot the brothers? Horatio couldn't have killed both of them that quick."

"It was Eric too," she answered.

"Oh, remind me to thank them."

"So," she started, and I knew she wasn't finished with the topic of my love life. "I know you might find this inappropriate right now, but Ryan, is he more than a friend to you yet?" I lifted an eyebrow. "I mean I'm just curious, I know you'd be worried if anyone was hurt like that, but it wasn't just anyone right. It was Ryan."

"You know, I'll admit it now Saddie, I really, really, like him, a lot."

She smiled triumphantly. I rolled my eyes at her. "Yea you got it out of me okay, I know you've been waiting to hear that." Then I thought of the night she was at my house when I'd invited Ryan in. "By the way, that night you were in my house and didn't want to leave, we didn't, you know, do anything. If that's what you thought."

"It was my hope, but I knew you wouldn't."

"You were hoping we would?"

"Well Cassandra, I know you haven't been with any guys in a long, long time. Especially none as nice or good looking as Ryan," she stated. Then she changed the subject back. "So, Ryan?"

"Should I regret telling you?" I said, but smiled anyway. "But yes, Ryan. I don't know if he feels the same though..."

"Please! I could tell that night you invited him in that he wanted you there and then. I could tell he was disappointed I was there!" Saddie told me in a rush.

I thought back to when he left. "That night though, was when he told us we couldn't be together, because of Stetler; he said he wanted to warn me before I wanted to be more than friends."

"Screw Stetler!" she blurted. "He can mind his own damned business!"

I had to laugh at her. "Alexx said the same thing, except not as outright as you. She pretty much told me that if we want to be together, to be together. But to try and stay strictly coworkers at work."

"Well Alexx is right. And don't think I didn't hear those locker room rumours Missy!"

"Oh, shut up about that! We weren't "making out," I was about to kiss him when Eric walked in!" I paused to see her face, finding out that the rumours were almost true, then continued. "And Ryan knows I was about to. You'd think if he'd wanted to finish what we'd started..." I trailed off.

"You know what I think? I think you two will finish what you started, even if it takes a month, or five months!"

"Thanks Saddie." I smiled at her and looked down. I noticed that most of the tub of ice cream was already gone; we ate it all during out little talk. "So, how long do you think he'll have to stay in the hospital?"

"Horatio said the doctor's said about 4 weeks at least. He did have some fractured ribs, and you can't exactly fix those. You pretty much have to wait it out, they take about 6 weeks to heal, and it hurts so I'm sure they're going to be giving him plenty of pain medication."

"Oh... anything else?"

"Nothing besides the fact that he's bruised and battered, that Thomas guy got him pretty hard on the face." I flinched remembering the gash Ryan had on him. "I'm sorry Cassandra," Saddie said, realizing she'd reminded me.

"Will I get to see him tomorrow?" I better get to see him tomorrow, I thought.

"You will definitely get to see him tomorrow, and if H says no, I'll beat him up okay?"

I grinned. "Okay."

This is the second last chapter I have finished before I have to actually write more. All of this was written prior to me posting on Thanks to my few but faithful reviewers. : )


	16. Chapter 16

**Yet another chapter that has really only a few things happening, but I NEED to get in here, it may be a little long too. **

I woke up the next morning on Saddie's pull-out couch. I rubbed my eyes and sat up; the bright Miami sun was shining through the front window, the blinds were pulled aside.

"Saddie?" I said softly, looking around to see if she was awake yet. I couldn't see or hear her anywhere. I got up; I was still in my clothes from yesterday. I spied her keys hanging on the key holder by her door.

I went to the bathroom to see how bad I looked. Surprisingly I hadn't cried myself to sleep, we'd had quite a lot of fun last night and I knew Ryan was... alive. I couldn't exactly say he was well. But right now I just wanted to see him. After seeing that I didn't look horrible, I skipped a shower, fixed my hair, and wrote Saddie a note.

_Saddie, _

_I'm at the hospital; I stole your car and a clean shirt, hope you don't mind. Call me on my cell!_

_Cass._

I stuck it up right on her fridge with a magnet, grabbed her keys from the holder and headed out to her car.

I made it to the hospital and went inside, the hospital was big and I hadn't spotted any hummers anywhere, so I wasn't sure if anyone would be with Ryan. I walked up to the receptionist.

"Can I help you?" she asked without looking up from her computer screen.

"Yea, I was wondering what room Ryan Wolfe was in?"

She looked up. "Are you family?"

"Well, not exactly -" I started.

"You have to be family," she stated and then looked back at the screen.

"Excuse me, but Mr. Wolfe was a police officer. So am I," I said pulling out my badge, "and I'd like to see him. Now."

She glared at me and tapped her keyboard. "Wolfe you said?"

"Yes."

"First name was?"

I rolled my eyes, like there were that many people with the last name _Wolfe_. "Ryan."

"He's in room 206, on the second floor," she told me.

I smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

I headed for the elevator and made my way up a floor. I counted doorways, looking for the right number. When I finally found it I peeked through the little window. Eric was there with Ryan, I could see Ryan was propped up. Eric was grinning from ear to ear. I knocked on the door to let them know I was coming in.

"What's so funny in here Eric?" I asked smiling when I walked in. Ryan hadn't noticed me, but he turned at the sound of my voice. I looked down at him. "Oh... Ryan." Eric must have noticed the awkward way was standing at the door. He got up and squeezed my arm before heading out the door without saying anything.

Ryan turned to me with a pathetic little smile. "Why do you have to see me like this?" His eye was swollen almost to the point that I was surprised he could see out of it, the gash on his cheek had been stitched up and every time he tried taking a deep breath he winced. I immediately grabbed hold of his hand, and knelt instead of pulling up the chair Eric had previously occupied.

"I'm so, so sorry Ryan! I should have been hurt too, at least a little!" I yelped.

"Ssh, no you should not have! I'm glad I took it all instead of you, when that guy, well now we know it was Mr. Corbett, took you, all I could think was 'oh no he's going to hurt her'," he said looking down at our intertwined fingers.

I smiled. "Aaw Ryan."

"Oh don't do that, I was just worried," he said rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry... so Mr. Corbett huh? Wow," I said changing the subject.

"Yea, wow is right."

"Did anyone come to talk to you about that yet? About the bartender too, I wonder if he really was in on it."

"I'm not sure. We didn't see the guy when we went up, and if Thomas wasn't in that room when Ben Whittaker went in he probably didn't see them. Luckily he got out before or they might have had a third hostage." Whoa, hostage. I had never thought about us being hostages until he said it. It suddenly seemed even more serious than it already was. "No one came to tell me about anything that's happened yet. Eric was just here visiting."

"Oh, well I guess I'll head over to the lab then. I need to see what's going on. This is going to be a long day."

"You're leaving already?" he asked.

"You're the one who didn't want me to see you this way," I said.

"Well, it's too late now, you've seen me. Aren't you grossed out?" he said gesturing to his face. I laughed.

"No I'm not grossed out Ryan! I see dead bodies all the time, and I had to watch Alexx do an autopsy!"

"Oh, well I'm glad you came then," he smiled. "Come back again when you get all the information. Both of our suspects are dead so I guess all there is to do is see if Mrs. Corbett knew about her husband being in on it or if she's in for a surprise."

"Okay, I'll see you later then," I said, then without thinking I bent down to kiss him on the cheek. "Bye."

I left the hospital and got into Saddie's car. I took out my cell phone and turned it on. Sure enough there was a text message from Saddie.

_I forgive you. Just go and see Ryan. I'll see you later! (Just make sure you bring my car back.)_

I put my phone away and turned on the car, then headed over to the MDPD. When I got there I got out and headed inside the air conditioned building. I decided to go see Alexx before looking for Horatio.

"Hey Alexx!" I said as I walked into the morgue.

"Baby!" she said and ran over to hug me. "I'm so glad you're okay! Poor Ryan though, he's going to be at that hospital for a few weeks, but at least he's okay."

"I know I was just visiting him," I told her. "Have you seen him yet?"

"Of course I have. Honey I've been over there every time I had time off."

"Of course you were Alexx," I smiled at her. She treated Ryan like he was one of her own children, and I think he secretly loved it. "Well I just came to say hi, do you have any idea where Horatio is? I need to talk to him," I asked her.

"I think he's in his office, slow day today," she answered.

"Alright thanks Alexx, I'll see you later!" I said as I left the morgue.

I hurried down the hall to Horatio's office; the sooner I was finished talking with him the sooner I could go back to the hospital, or home to sleep more and then the hospital, assuming I didn't get called out. Was Horatio going to give me time off because of this? I was involved too, and it was traumatizing. What if he didn't? After all I was fine, and I was only Ryan's friend... still... Eric and Calleigh wouldn't get time off, but surely Horatio knew I cared about him as more than a friend? Or maybe that'd look too suspicious, we didn't want Rick Stetler thinking things we weird before they actually were. I walked into the office and found Horatio bent over paperwork. I stood staring blankly at him for a moment, forgetting why I was there. He looked up at me.

"Yes Miss James?"

"Oh," I said snapping out of my temporary confusion, "I wanted to talk to you about everything that went on yesterday. I mean, both the suspects are dead. Has anyone talked to Mrs. Corbett yet?"

"Yes, Calleigh and Eric spoke to Mrs. Corbett, she was hysterical when she found out her husband was in on the whole thing, she couldn't believe he'd kill his own daughter. We found no evidence that she was also involved so she's been let go. No further investigating will commence. As for Ben Whittaker the bartender, he's also been cleared," he took a breath and looked up. "Anything else?"

"Yea uhm, about Ryan, can I take a few days off of work? I know it might look suspicious to Stetler but... please?" I couldn't think of a good enough explanation, unless I wanted to blurt out to Horatio that I was practically in love with the guy and didn't want to leave his bedside until he was completely healed of everything.

"I suppose so, but you _were_ involved in this hostage situation too, I think it'll work out better if we say you wanted a few days to get over the fear of it. Stetler won't be as suspicious, even if he catches you at the hospital," he smiled.

"Great, yea sure," I turned to leave the office, but turned back to Horatio for a moment. "Thank you," I whispered it. I was on the verge of tears and I didn't know why, talk about a bad time for the emotions to kick in.

Outside the office I bumped into Natalia on her way to DNA.

"Hey Cassandra," she said and smiled. "I'm sorry about what happened, it must have been terrifying."

"It was, but we're both okay, that's what matters," I said pushing back the tears that were threatening to spill over at any minute. Why now did I finally have to realize what I'd just gone through?

"I'm glad you're okay, we can't afford to lose both of you!" she laughed.

"Thanks Natalia, well I'll see you later, I have to bring my friends car back to her, I kind of borrowed it without asking, then I just want to go home and sleep!" She raised her eyebrows.

"Are you going to go and visit Ryan first?"

"I already did, before I came here... don't worry I'm sure you'll see me in and out of Dade Memorial quite a bit these next few weeks." She smiled again.

"Alright, get some rest, see you later," she said starting towards DNA again.

I drove Saddie's car back to her house. She offered to drive me home but I told her I'd take a taxi. I called the taxi and told the driver my address.

Of course I'd go to see Ryan again that day but right now I just wanted to sleep.

**Phew, got the whole crime out of the way! Now onto the fluffiness... :D (This is the last chapter I had written before starting to post on so now you have to wait for me to write more. Sorry!)**


	17. Chapter 17

**People, this chapter takes place 3 months later, so don't get confused. I'm also not going anywhere with this case unless I need to later on, for now it was just something to get the chapter going.**

3 Months Later

"Oh my, it smells like someone died in here!" I exclaimed, carefully stepping over the tiny body of a dead mouse on the floor. Ryan turned to me and gave me an extremely dirty look. We _were_ actually looking for a dead body, and by the looks – and smell – of this house, there was definitely one here somewhere. "If you were an insane killer Ryan, where would you hide a dead body?"

"Freezer," he answered simply.

"I won't even ask," I said. I stepped into a bedroom and started searching. I looked under the bed, in the drawers of the dresser, a dead body – or pieces of it – could fit into a desk drawer! The closet was left. I didn't expect anything, so when I swung the closet door open and a body started falling my way I was more than startled. I tried moving backwards but tripped over a pile of clothes and fell on my behind. The body fell right into my lap. I let out a surprised scream.

"What's wrong?" I heard Ryan's out of breath voice behind me. He must have been down the hall or in the kitchen or living room when I screamed. I let out a little squeak. "Oh gross," I heard him say. I didn't move. I was completely freaked out, but the part of my mind committed to crime scene investigation told me not to move, I could damage the body, and from the feeling of it in my lap rigor had definitely set in.

Ryan made his way over towards me. I looked up; he was trying to hold back laughter, and wasn't succeeding. "Oh ha ha Ryan, this is just hilarious!"

He didn't say anything, just pulled out his phone and dialled a number. "Yea H," he said into his cell phone, "we found the DB."

Two hours, and one dead body out of my lap later, I was in the break room at the MDPD with Natalia.

"I heard about what happened to you today at that house, sounds just lovely," Natalia said to me across the table.

"Oh believe me it was," I said sarcastically. "Ryan couldn't get enough of it."

"Well it was funny." I turned; Ryan was leaning against the door frame.

"I'll see you guys later," Natalia said, quickly gathering her things and walking out the door. Since Ryan and I both came back to work, people would leave the room if we were together. Since we both came back to work I also found myself wanting to be around him every second of every day, and when he wasn't around me I was always worrying about him, and with our situation a few months ago I was paranoid about most things.

"Want anything?" he asked at the coffee maker.

"No thanks," I replied. He came over and sat down, smiling the whole time. Then he stared at me. I tried to ignore it but it was extremely hard. Finally I gave up.

"What?" I asked him, trying to sound annoyed. It came out like I was amused.

"I was just thinking, I never did get the chance to show you around Miami. Still need a little tour?"

"You call it a tour now?" I smiled.

"What do you mean?" he asked, genuinely confused. Stupid Ryan.

"A date, Ryan," I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, you want to call it a date?"

"I really do," I admitted.

"Really?"

"Yea, that surprises you? Remember the locker room?" I asked grinning at the memory.

"Oh right, when you were going to kiss me right?" he said. "And I bet you want to _finish what we started_?"

My mouth probably fell open about then. "When did she tell you _that_?" I asked.

He put his hands up. "Who?"

"You know who!"

"Saddie did not tell me anything about the night after our little 'incident' when you stayed at her house and had a little heart to heart!" he said in one long run on sentence.

"I can't believe she told you that," I said sinking into my seat a little.

"She also told me how you were so worried; you didn't even want to leave the hospital."

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.

"She may have done something good for you though," he said quietly.

I didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Were you going to ask me out or what?"

"Oh yea, if you still want to."

"When?"

"I was hoping tonight, you know so we don't get kidnapped or held hostage, or beat up or shot or anything first."

I had to laugh, it did seem like anytime we were getting somewhere we were interrupted or something horrible happened to one of us.

"Where?"

"You pick, I'm not great at these things… it'd probably be better," he said standing. "By the way I like your shirt."

I looked down at my plain jeans and tank top.

"Uhm thanks?"

He smiled, "so I'll get you around 8 or something, is that okay?"

"Fine, but you're not allowed to complain, and where are you going now?"

"Places." I rolled my eyes but couldn't help smiling at him as he left.

When he was gone I pulled out my cell phone and called Saddie.

"Hello?" she answered.

"I'm a CSI, and I know 7 different ways to kill you without anyone ever knowing it was me," I said into the phone.

She laughed. "Ryan talked to you! Oh Cassandra, you should be thanking me not threatening me with death. So when he talked to you, what did he say?"

I sighed. "He asked me out, for tonight. I bet you're jumping up and down."

"If I wasn't holding a vial of bodily fluids in my other hand right now I probably would be," she said.

"Uhm, okay. I think I'll let you get back to that then," I told her.

"Alright, have fun with Ryan, and I expect details as soon as you get home, I don't care if it's two in the morning."

"Whatever! If we get back that late I definitely won't be calling _you_!" I heard he giggle and I realized how that sounded. "Oh – shut up!" I stammered, and then flipped my phone shut. I left the break room to run some prints through AFIS.

**This chapter was way longer before, but it was too long so I split it in two. The next part will be up tomorrow, or later today seeing as it's 3:07 am, but I needed an update. Thanks to my few but awesome reviewers!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Ah, this chapter is finally here!**

I was sitting at home with Saddie; she didn't live far away and came over for a "surprise visit". It was 7:30 when she looked at me.

"What?" I said taking another spoonful of the ice cream we had out.

"Isn't Ryan coming in oh, half an hour?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Supposed to be."

"And you're ready to go?" she said looking me up and down.

"Mhm."

"You're wearing that?"

"What's wrong with this? Ryan said it looked good, and I decided I only want to go to a club or something, I don't need to look fancy."

"Ryan told you it looked good because he's smart and doesn't want to offend you, but I'm your friend and I don't want you going out with him dressed like that. Do you see the way he dresses _every single day_?" I rolled my eyes. "And you could at least put some eyeliner on or something," she topped it off.

"Isn't it good that I'm comfortable going with him the way I look without slabs of make up or nice clothes?"

"If you insist," she sat back and shook her head.

"Fine! I'll go change my shirt and put some eyeliner on or something," I said getting up and running upstairs.

"Thank you!" she called as I went.

I changed into a yellow blouse and kept my jeans, put some eyeliner on to make Saddie happy, then went back downstairs.

"Saddie are you happy now?"

"I know I am." I looked up. "Oh hey Ryan; I didn't hear the doorbell."

"I didn't have a chance to ring it before Saddie opened the door." I looked over at her and shook my head. She giggled.

"You two match." I looked at Ryan; he was wearing jeans and a bright yellow shirt too. I should have known he'd wear the brightest clothing item in his closet.

"So we do…" I smiled.

"Yea uh, are you ready?" he asked standing. I had a feeling Saddie scared him a bit.

"Yep, and I've decided I only want to go to a club or something, nothing fancy," I told him.

"Really, well I'm not a dancer," he warned me.

"Believe it or not I was quite the party animal in New York, and I can dance, I'll teach you!" I grabbed his hand and led him out the door. Saddie said a hurried goodbye and said she'd be there when I got back.

Ryan just started driving, I didn't know any clubs in Miami so I told him to find one, anyone. I was getting excited; I hadn't been out and about for just any reason since I moved to Miami, and I definitely hadn't been out with any guys for a long time. Working with them didn't count.

"Were you serious about teaching me to dance?" Ryan asked keeping his eyes focused on the road.

"Yea, why are you shy or something?"

"No, I just can't dance… at all. If someone is going to teach me to dance I'd rather it not be in a public place."

"Oh, you want it to be in private?" I asked grinning. He glanced sideways at me. "I _could _teach you in private, if that's what you really want."

He raised his eyebrows at me and I did the same. "Keeble Alert," he said.

"What the hell does that mean?"

He laughed. "Never mind."

"Whatever, do your other coworkers know of your random usage of weird phrases?"

He ignored me and continued smiling to himself until he pulled up to a building and parked, the bass of fast music was pumping inside.

"The Stampede, Ryan? Sounds lovely," I said when I saw the neon sign above the entrance.

"I've been here once before, it's nothing like the name makes it sound; besides you said I could find the place."

"I guess I did," I said climbing down from the hummer. I came around the front and he grabbed my hand again and pulled me inside. It was packed, there were people on the dance floor and most of the tables were full. Luckily there was one at the end of the room open and Ryan dragged me towards it.

"Want anything from the bar?" he asked.

"No thanks," I said watching some of the dancers.

"Okay, me either."

"What are we just going to sit here and talk?" I said, he tilted his head and I repeated it louder.

"I guess talking's out," he replied louder. The music was pumping through the room and it was hard to hear anything. An especially fast song came on and I decided to try and drag Ryan onto the dance floor.

"Come on," I pleaded. "I can't just go dance alone."

"No way! I'm not dancing like – like that!" he said gesturing to a couple who were, well close.

"Why not?"

"Because… just because." I grinned, he was uncomfortable.

"Fine, then I will go alone!" I walked away from him and into the throngs of people. I was dancing alone, and I didn't care, when I caught the eye of a guy not far away staring at me. I waved at him and he came towards me. I started moving closer to him and soon we were hip to hip. I was quite enjoying myself when the fast music stopped and a slow song started to play. He started to place his hands on my hips but I felt someone else's there first from behind. The guy I was previously dancing with looked down at his feet and skulked away. I turned and came face to face with Ryan.

"Can I have this dance?" he said.

"I thought you couldn't dance?"

"I can dance slowly; as long as we don't dance like you were with that guy, I'm good."

I laughed at him and put my arms around his neck. "Then yea, you can." I leaned in closer so I was pressing against him. I finally listened to the song.

_I don't wanna close my eyes,  
I don't wanna fall asleep,  
'Cause I'd miss you, babe,  
And I don't wanna miss a thing._

"I love this song," I said into his neck.

"I love it now," he pushed me slightly away from him. I could see the thin white line of a scar on his face where he'd had the stitches 3 months ago, and before I knew what I was doing my mouth was pressed against his. He moved his hands up my back and some sudden urge made me press against him harder and run my hands through his hair, and to my amazement, I opened my mouth. I could feel him running his tongue back and forth across my teeth. When the need for oxygen became too much we pulled apart.

"Wow," I breathed.

"Uhm yea… do you want to go? Or leave here, or something," he seemed eager.

"Yes," I answered right away. We left the club and went back to the hummer. We were halfway to my house when Ryan made a different turn. I didn't say anything; I had a feeling I knew where he was going. When he pulled up to his own house my mind was racing.

I looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"Are you kidding? Cassandra you don't even know how much I want to do this… or for how long I've wanted to," he looked crazed.

"Well, in that case -"

"Thank you!" he practically jumped out of the hummer and came over to my side. I opened the door and he grabbed my hand and helped me down, then he pulled me towards the door.

"Ryan slow down!" I laughed at him.

"Sorry," he said slowing enough to find the right key, and then he continued to drag me inside. He stopped everything he was doing and just stood there looking at me. He calmly closed the door, then walked over and starting kissing me again.

"Mm, wow," I said between kisses. I found myself walking backwards, he was guiding me.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to," he asked.

"I'm sure," I said falling back onto the bed, we found ourselves in his room. He fell down beside me.

"Really? This isn't way too fast?"

After one more kiss I grinned and said "No, _I'll teach you to dance_."

**I'm usually uncomfortable writing things like this! But since I've started **_**reading **_**slash it's been easier to write something simple like this… besides it stayed PG 13. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Finally! I must be the slowest fan fiction writer ever! Anyways for it being about like two weeks (or more?) since the last chapter, this is really short. But I think it's going somewhere. Right, enjoy! **

When I finally realized I was conscious, I didn't open my eyes. My first thought was "Wow, what a dream!" until I remembered it wasn't a dream, then my thoughts changed to "Wow, what a night!"

Ryan stirring beside snapped me out of my thoughts. I finally opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, then turned on my side to face him. I kept the covers pulled up to my chin. I studied him for a few minutes; he seemed a lot more relaxed sleeping than when he was awake. I traced my finger from his eye down his face to his jaw and he smiled.

"Good morning," he murmured without opening his eyes. I didn't say anything, just snuggled in closer and he started snaking his arm around me.

"We can't, not right now," I was saying.

"Why not?" was his reply.

_Beep, beep, beep._ It was the worst noise I could hear at the moment. "That's why," I sighed.

Ryan groaned and hit the snooze button. "Work." I suddenly remembered something and I sat up straight. "What's wrong?" he asked propping himself up on one elbow.

"Saddie," I said looking at him. He looked blank. "She said she'd be there when I got back... She either figured we were just out really late and she went home, or she stayed the night, and I never showed up."

Ryan let himself fall back against the pillow. "_That's_ what you're worried about? Why? She'll find out anyway when she sees you at the lab dressed in the same clothes you had on when you left last night. At least you didn't wear the clothes you were wearing that day, because then _everyone_ would notice... but they were the same pants, do you think Calleigh will notice?" I had no idea why he'd decided to ask if Calleigh would notice. I was more worried about Alexx or Eric finding out. Eric would keep it a secret - for now - but he'd make jokes about it no one else would understand. Alexx would probably spill the beans to Horatio, or hug me so tight I'd suffocate, or something!

"Are we dating now?" I asked. It had just occurred to me, and so many other things were going through my mind too.

Ryan looked flustered at my sudden change in topic, and then his expression changed. "Well, I'm not really a fan of one night stands, especially when you're really, really good friends with the person, so I would hope so."

"Are we going to tell anyone at the lab? I mean it just happened, wouldn't it be best to wait, make sure _we're_ okay with it first?"

"We were okay with it last night."

"But the hormones were raging, Ryan!" I cried, trying not to sound panicky. To my surprise he buried his face in his pillow, and I could see his shoulders quickly rising and falling. Was he laughing?!

He turned over, and yes he was laughing. "We can't tell anyone anyways Cassandra. The rules remember," he said while rolling his eyes.

"Oh yea, so let's hope no one notices my pants," I said throwing the covers off and giggling to myself. "Bathroom?"

"Other side of the hall. You're not taking a shower are you? You don't have any clean clothes."

"No, just going to fix myself up," I said.

"Okay, see you soon then," he replied.

Ten minutes later I came out of the bathroom, dressed in my clothes from last night which didn't exactly feel right, but I didn't have anything else. I wasn't familiar at all with Ryan's home, besides the bedroom, and the living room where I was once before, but I found the kitchen where he was leaning against the counter, cell phone in hand.

"Something already?" I asked when I walked in.

He sighed. "It's from Eric, apparently there's a DB not far from here so he wants me to take it and he said he'll be there as soon as he can get there," he said flipping the phone shut. "He's done this before."

"Done what?"

"He'd be late for things; he'd call another one of us to go for him, stuff like that," he said shrugging. "My lucky day."

"Hey, I'll go for you. You can take a shower or whatever and just come a little late," I said approaching him to wrap my arms around his waist.

"Are you sure? I can go it's fine."

I took a deep breath, he smelled so good. "Mm, no I'm okay, I can go. Where is it?"

"About 20 minutes from here, just a sec," he fiddled with the phone for a second, and then I 

heard mine ringing from somewhere in the bedroom. "I forwarded Eric's directions to you, can you take my car?"

"You have a car?"

"Well yea, I don't _own_ that hummer, it's for work."

"Well when do I get a hummer for work?"

He laughed. "You'll have to talk to the higher ups about that, but I would like to drive my hummer, so take the car."

"Fine, is it out there?" I referred to the driveway. "I never noticed before."

"Yea it is. It's black, small. I pretty much hate it."

"Okay," I said pulling away from him. "I'll just uh, go get my phone."

I wandered back down to the bedroom and found my phone halfway under the bed. I opened it to find Eric's directions from Ryan. I saved the message and went back out to the kitchen.

"Okay, I better get going now. I'll see you later," I said to Ryan who was now wandering his living room, fixing anything out of place. I gave him a look.

He wandered over and placed a kiss right on my mouth. "Okay! See you later Cassandra, key is by the door."

"You can't just do that!"

"Do what?"

"Just kiss me like that. I might, go into shock or something."

He rolled his eyes. "I almost went into shock last night when _you_ kissed _me_."

"You wanted me to."

"I did, and you want me to... too."

"Fine, just don't do it at the lab, please."

"Okay, we'll keep it on the down low," he said moving his hands in a downwards motion.

"Thanks then Ryan, bye," I laughed heading towards the door.

I found the key and went out of the house down to the driveway. I found his car, how he could hate it I had no idea, it was definitely nicer than mine. I took out my phone and looked over Eric's directions. After 15 minutes of driving I found the street and finally the right house. I got out of the car and made my way under the crime scene tape around the yard. I showed my badge to an officer and continued inside the house.

I expected to find Frank Tripp standing around; instead I walked in to be greeted by someone I didn't ever want to see...

"Cassandra? Where's Ryan Wolfe?"

...Jake Berkeley.

**:O Jakey! Thanks to my few reviewers!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry for the super long wait guys. Real life and other fics to write and not to mention major writers block. Next chapter I may do third person POV, or at least try it a chapter and hope it's not too weird thrown in there if I don't like it. Oh well, enjoy!**

"Where's Frank?" were the first words out of my mouth. Jake looked at me and I could tell he knew I didn't want to see him.

"He was busy." God did his voice bother me.

"Where's the body?" I asked making my tone official. I was relieved I wouldn't need to explain the reason why Ryan "called" me.

After looking me up and down Jake finally looked at my face again. "She was upstairs in her bed."

"She died in bed?"

"Looked like it," he answered.

"Where is she now and what was her cause of death? Obviously it wasn't natural if you and I are here."

"Alexx took her, it was pretty gory. COD was stabbing, I don't know what else could cause so much blood; she said she'd have more at the post."

"So I just came to look around?"

"No, you just came to do your job," he said looking at me again. Even his eyes bugged me.

I glared at him when he turned his back and went to the foot of the stairs. "Come on," he urged me.

"_You're_ only here to look you know," I told him.

"I'm a Homicide Detective Cassandra. I do know what I'm allowed to do and not do," he snapped.

"You don't need to be Mister Touchy," I said as I walked past him to go up the stairs. I could almost feel his glare on my back when I pushed past him to ascend the stairs before him.

I found several prints in the room, along with a few strands of hair, and had bagged all of the sheets and covers from the bed - they were absolutely covered in blood - and Ryan still hadn't shown up, neither had Eric. Jake paced the room and asked me questions about what I'd found. After a while it was easier to talk to him. I guess you just had to get used to it, not that I'd forgiven him for coming onto me, even if it _was_ months ago, or constantly staring like I was doing something wrong. I still disliked him.

Jake heaved a sigh and I shot him a look. "What now?"

"Did Delko or Wolfe _tell _you they'd show up sometime today?" he asked. "If you hadn't realized, it takes a lot longer when you only have one CSI," he said before going to sit down in an empty arm chair not far from the bed.

"Don't sit there!" I got up and grabbed his arm to pull him away from the chair. "Crime scene Berkeley, no touching."

At that moment Eric came around the corner. "Hey guys, I'm so sorry -" he stopped when he saw my hand around Jake's wrist. I snatched it away. Why did Eric always pick the wrong times to walk into a room?

"Thanks for finally showing up!" I snapped at him.

"Hey sorry, I was busy last night, I slept in."

"Oh Eric, who's the lucky lady?" I teased.

I never thought I'd see Eric Delko embarrassed over a woman, but to my surprise he flushed.

"No one!" he said quickly. "And anyways, you're wearing the same pants you wore yesterday."

I looked down at my jeans. How could he tell? "So? What makes you think I got lucky? They were still clean! No point in wearing more clothes than needed."

He looked at me funny and I noticed Jake also looking at me with raised eyebrows. "They weren't dirty!" I insisted, and then folded my arms. "Eric I did all the work so far, it's your turn." I pointed to the floor where there was more blood soaked into the carpet. This case had plenty of evidence. "I'm going to go get some fresh air," I said and then left through the door leaving Jake with Eric.

I went downstairs and out the front door into the yard to catch Ryan climbing out of his Hummer at the side of the road. I waited for him at the door.

"Hi," he said when he got to where I was standing. He put his hand on my waist and tried pulling me closer.

"Ryan, Eric and Jake are here and could come down at any moment," I said keeping my hands against his chest to push him away if I needed. I didn't think he'd be so touchy feely right away.

"Okay," he sighed, but didn't remove his hand. "What do we have?"

"Female, already gone with Alexx, died in bed, tons of evidence."

"I love evidence," he said. After a pause he continued, "Funny how Eric got here before me when he called me to come for him..."

"Yea what the hell were you doing that took so long?" I asked while I played with the collar of his shirt.

He looked down at me. "I took a shower."

"Long enough shower, then?"

"I'm thorough," he smirked.

"Ryan!" I smacked his arm.

He dropped his hand and looked over my head. I decided to stop busying myself with his shirt to turn around and look.

Eric and Jake were coming down the hall towards the staircase. They were either looking at the floor or at each other as they walked and talked, so they hadn't noticed Ryan and I. I took a step away from Ryan, just in case.

"Nice of you to show up Wolfe," Eric said to Ryan when they reached the bottom of the stairs. Jake and I both raised our eyebrows.

"Eric, you _just _got here five minutes ago yourself," Jake reminded him.

Ryan shook his head at Eric. "I still got here before you did," Eric finalized.

"Yea, okay Eric. What did you find?" Ryan asked.

"I found plenty of hairs and fingerprints, I bagged all the bed coverings too," I said.

"I got a few blood samples from different spots in the room. Most of the blood was on the floor though," Eric said after me.

"You haven't seen the sheets, Eric," I said.

We all stood there in silence for a few seconds. It was unusual; usually there were higher ups around, or at least people who seemed to be more 'in charge' than us. This time Horatio hadn't shown up, Calleigh wasn't called out, and Jake was there instead of Frank. The only people we felt superior to were the few officers wandering around. Ryan and I shouldn't have to worry about them seeing us.

"Cassandra do you mind if I take the evidence to the lab?" Eric asked.

"No not at all. We'll be right behind you anyways," I told him.

"Actually," Ryan interrupted, "I'm going to take a look around inside too, just in case."

Eric assumed I was going to wait for Ryan, he was right of course. "See you at the lab then Cass?" he asked.

"Sure Eric thanks."

Eric left and Jake turned to give me a small wave before he also left. I tried to smile and wave back, to be polite.

Ryan rolled his eyes when Jake left. "What?" I asked.

"I think he has a thing for you," he told me.

"Well, he did ask me out a few months ago."

"He did?"

"Oh, yea I didn't tell you did I?"

"No, you didn't," he said.

"Well it was none of your business until last night."

Ryan didn't say anything. He turned to go into the living room. I moved into the kitchen. Nothing was out of place. I went into the dining room off of the kitchen next. There was nothing wrong there either.

"Cassandra?" I heard Ryan calling me.

"Yea?" I yelled back as I continued searching the dining room for anything wrong.

"I think you should come in here." I could hardly hear him from where he was. Why was he talking so quietly?

I left the dining room and went into the living room. Ryan turned towards me.

"Oh Ryan... where was she?"

There was a little girl in his arms. She had her face buried in the side of his neck. He pointed to the TV. The doors to the cupboard beneath it were open.

"She was in there?" I asked. She had to be at least 6 years old, but she was small; it didn't surprise me that she could fit.

Ryan nodded and looked at me pleadingly. I could tell he wasn't used to kids. I walked over and moved her curly brown hair out of her face. She was crying.

"Hi sweetie," I said, unsure of what to say right away. "You're safe now, my name is Cassandra, and I'm a police officer." I didn't know if she would understand, but I had a feeling she did.

"This is Ryan Wolfe; he's also a police officer. Can you tell me what happened?" She finally looked up at me, her eyes were bright blue.

"Somebody knocked on the door. Mommy answered it and a man came inside, he hit her and she screamed. I hid under the TV," I was surprised at how well she explained and how quickly. Ryan looked at me as she talked, he looked worried.

Even though her arms were still tightly wound around his neck, Ryan knelt and tried to sit her on the couch. She didn't let go.

"It's okay, you're safe you can let go," he coaxed her. She did and curled up in the corner of the couch. I sat beside her.

"I'll call Horatio," Ryan said. I nodded and he left the room.

"Do you remember what the man that came inside looked like honey?"

She shook her head no. "But he was taller than mommy, then I hid before he saw me..." she started to cry again as she remembered. I put my arm around her and she leaned against me. "Is my mommy going to be okay?" she sniffed.

I knew she wasn't, but I didn't want to tell her. "We have to see," I said instead. "Does your daddy live with you?"

"No... I never see him, he lives far away," she told me.

"Can you tell me your name?" I asked her.

"Emily."

"Okay thank you for telling me all of this Emily. Officer Wolfe is calling someone right now; you'll be out of here soon." As I finished Ryan came back into the room.

"Horatio is on his way, he wants to talk to her before bringing her to the MDPD."

Emily looked up at me. "He talks too fast," she pointed to Ryan. "What's an MDPD?" she continued.

I had to laugh. Ryan put his hands on his hips and busied himself with looking at the walls.

"It stands for Miami-Dade Police Department. We're going to have to bring you there soon, but first another man is coming to talk to you. I'm sure you'll like him," I referred to Horatio.

"But I like him," she pointed at Ryan again. Apparently talking too fast didn't bother her that much.

I smiled. "I like him too."

"Is he your boyfriend?" she asked before giggling. This kid wasn't shy.

"Something like that," I answered. "Ryan can you come here?"

Ryan turned and tried to look like he wasn't listening to our conversation when he turned around. "Sure," he came over and sat beside me on the couch.

"Ryan this is Emily," I said. "Emily, this is Ryan Wolfe." I introduced the two formally.

"Hi Ryan Wolfe," she said smiling.

"Hi Emily..." Ryan looked at me. He didn't know how to talk to a 6 year old. Emily crawled over me to sit between us, and to grab Ryan's arm to hold on to for dear life. I couldn't help mouthing "aaw" at him and then giggling at his obvious lack of comfort.

I leaned back on the couch to wait for Horatio. I liked the way this felt; even if this girl's mother was just murdered and we'd just found her in a cupboard...

I looked up from the floor to see Calleigh stride in. Emily had fallen asleep in the little time we'd been waiting against Ryan. We hadn't said a word since Emily had grabbed his arm.

"Isn't that just the cutest thing?" Calleigh said quietly as she walked in.

Ryan rolled his eyes but didn't move. "You three look like a happy family," Calleigh continued, telling us what she thought about Ryan and I, without actually saying it. Everyone was still silently prodding at us to get together. If only they knew what had gone on last night, oh they'd be surprised.

I smiled at Calleigh and got up to go to the other side of the room where we could talk without Emily over hearing if she woke up. "Where's Horatio?" I asked.

"Something came up; he called me to come get Emily. She needs to be interviewed at MDPD now."

"I talked to her; she's smart for, I'm guessing, at least six year old. She can't be any older. She told me a man came inside when her mother answered the door, then he hit her mother and she screamed. Emily hid under the TV there," I said pointing to where Ryan had found her, "before the man saw her. She said he was taller than her Mom but couldn't remember anything else about him. Does she have to be interviewed, Calleigh? She's not shy, but I don't think she wants to talk about it anymore."

"I understand. We'll have to see, do you think what you've told me will be all she'll tell me too if I interview her?" Calleigh asked.

"Probably, I don't think there is anymore to tell. She did also say she never sees her father, said he lives far away." I turned towards the couch where Ryan still was, absentmindedly removing Emily's hair from her face when it slid down into her eyes again. I couldn't help smiling, they looked to nice together.

"Sweet isn't it?" Calleigh broke into my thoughts.

"Yea."

"You and Ryan, you know, you didn't look too shabby together with her there," Calleigh kept on.

I smiled at her, grinned was more like it. "Thanks Calleigh..."

She seemed a little taken back by my reaction. "Well, I mean no problem I guess."

I kept smiling at her and she laughed. "I'll take her back with me, I'll meet you there."

"Sure, thanks."

"Hey," she stopped me before going back to Emily. "Who's Hummer is that?"

"Ryan's," I said.

"Why is his car here?" she asked. Oh crap, she must have thought I'd driven the hummer and he'd taken his car.

"Oh yea... I... borrowed it, like last night. Mine is in for repairs so he's letting me use his as long as I pay for gas."

"Oh," Calleigh said. Then she shrugged and left through the door to wait for us to bring out Emily.

"Ryan, can you wake her up? We have to go to the MDPD now," I said approaching him.

"Do I have to wake her up?" he said softly, not taking his eyes off of her face.

"Wake her up or carry her, your choice."

To my surprise Ryan did lift her. She shifted a little in his arms but didn't move much more.

"I wish I could ride with you," I muttered.

"Your idea to come before me," he said back. I followed him outside where Calleigh was leaning against another hummer. Seriously, this PD was not short on expensive vehicles.

"Ready?" Calleigh said, opening the back door.

Ryan passed Emily over. She woke when she realized she was being handed over.

"Where am I going?" Emily asked looking at Ryan.

"My name is Calleigh Duquesne, honey. I'm taking you to the police department. You'll be safe."

I was watching and waiting a few feet away. Ryan said something to Calleigh and waited for her to get into her hummer before even turning back towards me. When he finally did he was smiling to himself.

"Aw Ryan, love at first sight?"

"No! I am not a kid person."

I rolled my eyes. "It's fine, I can see why."

He wrapped his arm around my waist when he was sure Calleigh was gone and started walking towards the car. I knew he was going to deposit me in it and make me meet him at the lab.

"I'll see you at the lab okay?" he said leaning down the few inches between us to peck me on the cheek.

"Fine."

He smiled and watched me get in before going back his vehicle. I didn't wait for him; I pulled into the street and made my way to Miami Dade.

**I was re-reading this a few days ago, and in one AN I said I was a _fast _updater! What happened to that I have no idea! Buut, don't worry, I may take a while but I'm not going to abandon this story. I want to thank my very awesome recent reviewers! JauntyChick (seriously, go read Headstrong, it's freaking awesome), Sarryb (she has so many good stories, read her Ryan one shots, they're hilarious), iluvcsi4ever (read her NY fics, they're awesome), Fairy87, xDashxOfxAzaleax, AnastasiaWolfe (read New Beginings, it's also very awesome), and Sammy Lynn234. Also thanks to the people who put my story on Alert! Oh and one more thing, down there, at the bottom, make sure you have it set to Submit a Review, and press Go. Pleaaase. :D**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: sigh So this chapter makes like no sense, I know nothing of social services so that part might all be completely wrong. I googled believe me, nothing comes up that's of any help. And well, I dunno, writers' block sucks. So I _hope_ I'm going somewhere with this, I think I am. ; ) P.S. I screwed the third person stuff, it'd mess everything up, Cassandra sorta has her own voice, it'd be different if she wasn't the one telling the story. **

I stepped out of my car in the parking lot and ran into the building. I wanted to make sure this little girl wasn't interviewed. I caught Calleigh bringing her into a room with solid walls. I followed her into the room.

"Calleigh, why is she in here?" I asked, not even bothering to see if Calleigh even knew I was there.

"Oh, Cassandra. Emily is just going to have to tell us some things -"

"No she's not," I cut her off. I grabbed Emily's hand. I just didn't want this innocent girl to have to go through this. "I told you already what she said Calleigh. I'm a cop here too now remember? I can account for the fact that she said this, and Ryan will too, she doesn't need to tell anyone else if two officers know already."

Calleigh looked at me, but didn't show any hint of annoyance. "I guess you're right," she shrugged. "Tell Horatio what she told you, and we'll work on finding her father or another relative."

I nodded and then knelt down beside Emily. "Don't worry; you won't have to talk about it anymore okay? We're going to try and get a hold of your Daddy. Would that be okay?"

She nodded. "I haven't seen Daddy in a long time though."

"Then you have something to look forward to." I waved in an officer. "This officer here is going to take you somewhere where you can eat or sleep, play, whatever you want, okay? Don't be scared to ask if you need anything." I didn't think she would be scared, but I said so to be sure.

"Where did the other one go?" she asked.

"The other what, sweetie?"

"Your something like that boyfriend."

"He should be here soon, why?" I asked.

"I wanna talk to him," she told me.

"As soon as he gets here I'll send him to talk to you okay?"

"Okay..." she looked from me to the female officer holding out her hand. She took it and followed the officer out of the room.

I did leave to find Horatio, but I found myself walking into the morgue, scanning the area for Alexx. She came around the corner wiping her hands dry on a paper towel.

"Finish an autopsy?" I asked.

"Cassandra! How are you today honey? Nice of someone to visit me, I get lonely down here sometimes."

"No problem Alexx. Did you hear about the little girl we found today?" I asked.

"Yea I did," she said shaking her head. "Pretty horrible, does she know her Mom isn't coming back?"

"I don't think anyone's confirmed it with her yet, but she's smart, she'll figure it out before someone tells her. Probably come right out and say it, actually."

"She's not a shy kid?" Alexx smiled. I knew she had her own kids, and this was probably hard for her to think about.

"Not at all, she even got me to admit Ryan was my sort-of boyfriend," I said rolling my eyes. Alexx stopped what she was doing and turned to stare at me, and I realized my mistake.

"What was that?"

"Never mind, Alexx..." but I knew it was too late, and I _wanted _to tell someone.

A smile spread across her face. "No, you said Ryan and boyfriend in the same sentence! Did you two finally realize you're perfect for each other?"

"Sort of," I said.

"Sort of?"

"Well, we went out... last night."

"On a date, date?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"And?"

"We kissed... uhm," I didn't want this to get awkward, but it was going there fast.

"There's more? Oh tell me, you know you can talk to me any time you want baby," she said.

"Okay, so we danced, kissed, and went back to his house, for, how can I put this, _fun_?"

"After one date?!" she asked, obviously knowing what I meant.

"Well, we've been friends for months, had feelings for each other for months. It's not like he was some random guy I just met. Anyways, let me tell you, it _was _fun! God I haven't had action like that in _so_ long." It slipped out, but it felt so good to tell _someone_.

She smiled again. "I'm so happy for you two." Then she got serious. "Just remember, this might change the way you two feel about each other forever. Good and bad." Then she was back to happy _again_, she came over and caught me in a hug, much tighter than I would have imagined Alexx capable of.

"You aren't allowed to tell anyone," I said when she'd finally released me. "Not even Ryan, and don't hint around."

"I won't, I swear," she said holding up a hand. "Now are you going to stay to watch this next job, or leave to work?"

"I think I'll go work!" I said quickly. Alexx looked disappointed.

"Okay."

I laughed. "Sorry, no need for me to see you cut open a dead body at the moment, I'll see you later."

Eric was in DNA working on the blood from the crime scene when Calleigh entered behind him.

"Hey," she said cheerfully.

"Hello there," he said after setting down his swabs. "What can I do for you Ms. Duquesne?"

"The prints you found at this mornings' scene, did you run them yet?"

"Calleigh," Eric sighed. "No, I only got back from the scene a bit ago, been working on this blood since I got back. You're welcome to run the prints."

"Thanks, I was going to take them to Ryan actually, get him to do it," she laughed. "This wasn't even my case, but that little girl. I feel bad for her, so I want to make sure you're all doing your jobs!"

Eric stopped what he was doing. "What little girl?"

"What do you mean what little girl? I can't believe no one told you! Ryan and Cassandra found a kid at the scene after you and Jake left. She explained to them what she saw, and Cassandra is adamant about making sure she is not interviewed. Her name is Emily."

"Well, _thank you_ for letting me know this! I swear those two don't tell anyone anything. They're probably sleeping together you know," he looked at her pointedly.

Calleigh made a shocked face. "Eric!" she hit his arm with the case file she happened to be holding. Then she laughed. "Obviously!" Eric joined in her laughter.

"Too bad, Cassandra's hot. Can't believe she fell for Wolfe."

Calleigh shrugged. "There are other women in the lab _Delko_."

"I know," Eric smirked at Calleigh.

"Horatio?" I said when I knocked on the door to his seldom used office.

"Come in," I heard the reply. I swung the door open and strode in; I was no longer intimidated by Horatio. He was a great boss, and I loved working for him.

I sat down lazily in the chair across from his. "Wanted to talk to you about the scene today. You heard about the kid?"

Horatio nodded. "Emily Vandervot."

"Right, well I just wanted to let you know that I told her she wouldn't have to talk about what she saw anymore. Ryan and I were both there when she explained the first time, and I don't want her to have to go through it all again."

Horatio nodded once more. "I understand, and she won't be interviewed."

"Thank you." There was an awkward silence before Horatio broke it.

"We're working on finding relatives around the area. It's proving to be difficult though. She has no living grandparents, her mother was an only child, so there are no uncles or aunts, and we're working on finding her father still," he told me. "She may have to stay with social services for a few days."

I didn't like the sound of that. "Social services? H don't, no, can't she go to a host family or something?"

Horatio shook his head. "Not if she won't be there for longer than a month."

I sighed. I wasn't going to have Emily stay with social services either.

**EN: Hm, I think these chapters are getting shorter too. : / Oh well, I'm trying to update quicker, I've got the rest of this week, and four exams next week, they're only 2 hours. Almost Summer Vaca dances I'll be updating a lot more during the vacation. : ) R&R's are appreciated. Thanks Sarryb for reading and correcting my spelling and grammar last chapter so I could fix it! Thanks everyone who reviewed and alerted! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Hm, am I going somewhere? I hope so... **

I left Horatio's office shaking my head. I needed to find Ryan. I stopped dead in the hall and took out my cell phone.

_Ryan, where are you? I need you._

I hit send and shut my phone. It seemed to take less than two minutes for a response.

_We're at work Cassandra! _

I rolled my eyes. What a dork.

_Emily wants to talk to you. Dunno what about, could be she just likes you. Get down there and see._

I waited for another response.

_I'll go talk to Emily. See you. _

I decided to go to my desk, yes I had a desk, and search for Emily's relatives, along with whoever else Horatio had doing the work. I sat down, and shoved some piles of paper out of the way. It was a mess. I opened the laptop sitting there and started my search on Facebook and MySpace, the two places computer techs _wouldn't_ start.

Well that was enough of that; I wasn't getting anything, leave that to the computer techs and social services. Instead I took the time to clean off my desk. While cleaning I found several case files I hadn't filled out yet. Deciding I should probably do that, I put them in order by date, and started filling them out. I was hunched over a file from almost three weeks ago, furiously scribbling things out when I felt hands on my shoulders.

I tensed. "No one's around, don't worry," I heard Ryan say.

"You should know something," I started saying before Ryan started moving his thumbs in circles. I moaned and I heard Ryan laugh behind me.

"Did you really just do that?"

"Sorry, but that feels good, and it's distracting." He didn't stop doing it. "Can I at least tell you some things?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Okay, not too sure whether you'll be happy with either..." Ryan finally took his hands off my shoulders and knelt beside my chair so his face was level with mine.

"Go ahead."

"Well, you know how we weren't really planning on telling anyone anything, about last night?"

Ryan's eyes narrowed. "Yea."

"Well I accidently told Alexx."

Ryan shook his head. "That's fine I guess. I just hope she doesn't go blabbing it around."

"I made her promise. You've worked with her longer than me, but I'm pretty sure she'll keep her word. She's not a liar."

"True, if you made her promise I think she'll keep to it. Was there something else?"

"Oh yea, I don't know if you'll want to, you don't have to even involve yourself in this, I was just going to ask."

"If you need help with something of course I'll involve myself," he said shifting forwards more. I couldn't help it; I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "What was that for?" he asked when I pulled away.

"For being so sweet. I could ask you to go give my elderly grandmother a sponge bath and you'd do it wouldn't you?"

Ryan sighed. "I very much hope that isn't what you want to involve me in, but I would."

I laughed. "Don't worry; I wouldn't put you through that, even though she would _love_ it."

"Gross Cassandra," he said.

"Hey, that's my Grandma you're talking about buddy."

He smiled. "Come on, what do you really want?"

"You know, I was talking to Horatio, and he said they're having a difficult time finding any of Emily's relatives. He said she might have to stay with social services for a few days. So I kind of volunteered myself to have her stay with me, at least until we find someone she can live with."

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "I didn't even know you liked kids."

"I love kids Ryan and I know I shouldn't get attached to Emily, but it's too late. I don't want her to have to experience anything too horrible. I mean I know looking back at it and thinking, "I had to stay at some police officers house for days while the MDPD Crime Lab searched for my father because my mother was murdered" isn't exactly a good memory. But it's better than some things she might go through. I mean I know she doesn't know me very well, but you and I were the first ones who found her, who made her feel safe. I don't know, I could be wrong but I think she likes us. Especially you Ryan," I stopped talking and took a breath. Ryan kept looking at me, as if he wasn't sure if I was finished. "So yea, just wanted you to know. You can come over tonight if you want, help out with her. Who knows, she might ask for you herself!"

"She's already going home with you tonight?" he asked.

"Yea, she has nowhere else," I took his hand in mine. "Please? She really, really likes you, I can tell."

"Yea, sure. I'll come over tonight," he smiled at me. "I really had no idea you felt that way."

I shrugged. "I know I shouldn't be attached, especially since we _will_ find her dad."

"It's fine, I like it."

"Oh! I forgot, did you go down and talk to her?"

"Yea I did," he said.

"What did she want?"

"She asked about her mom," he said, looking at the floor. "Wanted to know where she was."

I nodded. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth. I said her mom wasn't going to come back, some bad people hurt her, but we were going to find them and make sure they didn't hurt her or anyone else anymore," I noticed he'd clenched his fists.

"And we will, Ryan."

"I know," he said looking me in the eyes. "I just hate seeing this. She could be an orphan now for all we know about her dad. I mean why wasn't she seeing him? According to her he lives far away, but I don't know, her mom might have told her that to spare her."

"I know what you mean. He seems non-existent right now. I'm sure we'll find her someplace."

Ryan stood up. "Yea and we will find these people, whoever they are; I want to put them away for a long time. Did you know Florida has capital punishment still?"

"Ryan...? No matter what someone does, no one ever deserves to die."

"They kill someone, their life for the one they took away. Plus no more risk of them doing it again," he said.

"No," I shook my head. "No one _ever _deserves to die."

He shrugged. "We will disagree on some things. See you tonight?"

"Yea, tonight," I said. Ryan forced a smile and left the room.

**Thank you readers, reviewers and alerters. Not sure how many more chapters I'll have, I think I know how I'm gonna end it. After all that's happened already (seems like a lot to me) it might be repetitive, but I want to right it that way. Ooh, and I wasn't sure if I should put the death penalty thing in there or not, but I did. I can see Ryan agreeing with something like that, I don't know why. Both opinions are in there, so please don't take either personally. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Sorry for the shortness and the messed upyness. The timeline is kinda screwed up, but eh. Few more chapters to go! Nothing much going on in this chapter. **

Emily had made herself at home at the MDPD, and didn't seem to mind when I told her she was going to be staying with me for a day or two. The first night was fine; I had a spare room I set up for her. Ryan had come over and Emily was ecstatic. We ended up watching an old movie that was on TV, and to my surprise she got right into it. She eventually fell asleep on Ryan's shoulder, and he brought her to her room. The second night was much the same, and eventually we made it a tradition. Ryan would get a movie, come over, and we'd watch it until she fell asleep.

A week turned into a 3, then a month, then two. Emily went back to school and Horatio kept insisting she could go live with a foster family now; they were no closer to finding her Dad than they were a month ago, although we had found her mother's killer, with all the evidence on the case it wasn't hard. Horatio had spoken to one of her Uncles, who happened to be incredibly rude, and said he wouldn't be taking responsibility for his brother's problem, and he didn't know where he was or where to look. I told Horatio no, I was quite happy to have Emily with me. One day at the MDPD, he pulled me aside.

"Cassandra, a little birdie told me -"

"Did this little birdie happen to be called Alexx?" I interrupted.

"Actually yes," he smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "Does it really matter H? It hasn't affected my work performance has it?"

He shook his head. "It hasn't, I just wanted to tell you that you could have told me. Alexx felt it was about time I knew, so she told me. You did a good job of hiding it. I'm happy for the both of you, and I suspect Mr. Wolfe has been over to see Emily quite a few times now hasn't he?"

"Yea, I think he really loves her H, even though he knows we can't - this will sound weird - keep her. He's been so much help too, I don't know if she'd still be with me if it wasn't for Ryan, because she _is_ like a normal 6 year old, throws temper tantrums and the like."

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying having her."

I looked down. "Horatio, what happens when we find someone for her? Won't she miss us...?"

"I'm sure she'll miss you both very much. But she'll never forget you, and you can always visit her."

"I'm worried though, what if this is too much for her? She's used to us now, and throwing her in with another family will completely mess her up!"

He smiled. "I'm not too sure about that."

I raised my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Look, I've got a scene to get to, I'll speak to you later," and with that he walked away.

When I got home Ryan was already there. He'd been staying overnight for weeks now, and a lot of his stuff had ended up at my house. We'd been alternating between days working, so one of us was always home. Horatio wasn't exactly short on CSI's, with himself, Natalia, Calleigh and Eric all working, along with the lab techs.

I walked inside, Ryan was watching TV.

"Hey," I said quietly. "Where's Emily?"

Ryan looked over at me. "Upstairs," he stopped when we heard some noise. Emily flew down the stairs and almost tackled me. "Well now she's downstairs."

"Hey Em, have a good day?"

"Yea, Ryan makes an _awesome _Ken," she told me.

I laughed and looked at Ryan who was shaking his head. "Good to know."

"I'm going to go put away my toys now Cass."

"Okay you do that," I said. Obviously Ryan had been teaching her the joys of cleanliness. I'd noticed my home had become a lot neater since he'd been staying. Emily ran back upstairs. Ryan smiled and came over to me.

"She wanted to play, I couldn't say no."

"You'll make a great dad someday Ryan," I said.

"Thanks. You don't know how good _you _look with kids," he pulled me into him by my waist. I ran my hands up his arms and onto his shoulders. He leaned in and kissed me, and I deepened it.

"Eew," we heard from the stairs. We both pulled away.

"Sorry Em," Ryan said smirking at me. "Didn't mean for you to see that."

"It's okay Ry," she said to him.

"What movie do you want to watch tonight?" I asked, going over to my stack. Not many of them a kid would want to watch. "Ryan you might have to go rent one..."

"I want _The Sound of Music,_" she said.

Ryan looked at the ceiling. It must have been the fifth time we'd watched that movie in two weeks. "You don't want to watch a new movie?"

Emily frowned at him. "No I like the singing."

"I have that one too," I said waving the DVD at Ryan. He sat down on the couch.

"Fine."

Emily sat on the floor, too close to the TV for Ryan's comfort. I slid the DVD in and sat down beside him.

"Emily move back," he said.

"Ryan be quiet," I said.

He pouted. "It's already 8, she'll be asleep in no time, and we won't have to watch the rest," I whispered to him.

"Then we can take it upstairs," he said hopefully.

"Oh, _wow._"

"Well..."

"Ssh," we heard from the floor.

An hour later, Emily was sprawled on the carpet with her head on a pillow, fast asleep, as was I, leaning against Ryan. He gently moved me so I was leaning against the arm of the couch, and got up to get Emily. 5 minutes later he was beside me again.

"Cassandra wake up, it's only 9 o' clock," he said, putting his hand under my chin and leaning over me.

"What?" I mumbled.

"Get up..."

"Mhm," I had no idea what he was saying to me, I didn't care. I leaned into him. "I love you."

Ryan was quiet for a moment. I opened my eyes, he looked at me. "That's the first time you've said that."

"Aren't you going to say it back?" I asked.

"I love you too."

"Thanks... wanna go upstairs like you suggested earlier?"

"Of course," he said, sounding more excited than normal.

I laughed, more awake now than before. I got up and went up the stairs Ryan behind me.

Ryan pushed me onto my bed, and almost lay on top of me. He kissed me for a long time, and then he pulled away.

I grinned. "Horatio knows."

**I take so long to post new chapters that I don't know who all my reviewers are, but you're all _amazing_, so thanks for reviewing/alerting me! Next chapter should be up quicker, since it's already written, but hey, this one was already half written when I posted 22, so dunno! ;) **


	24. Chapter 24

**So this chapter is a little bit different. It's in Cassandra's POV, but when it gets to the crime parts/parts without Cassandra, it switches to third person, which I quite like (and will be doing for these last few chapters). Enjoy.**

My eyes snapped open. What was that? I could have sworn I'd heard a yell, or something. There it was, a muffled voice. I sat up, and pulled my shirt on, grabbed my gun from the nightstand and left my room. I heard something else, another noise, and a bump. I raised my weapon, checking all the rooms going down the hall.

The door to the room Emily was using was ajar. I immediately felt my heart lurch. I nudged the door open more and entered, gun up. Emily was gone. I stood for a second, letting my brain register. Then I sprinted back to my room, jumped on my bed and started shaking Ryan.

"Ryan, get up, please, hurry up!"

"Huh? What's wrong?!" he said, grabbing my wrists to stop me from hitting him.

"Emily's gone, get up, call Horatio, _now_!"

"What?! She's gone?" he said, getting up right away and grabbing a shirt. I didn't hear him; I was already down the stairs and out the door, in the pitch dark, with my gun. There was no one. I ran to her window. No way could someone get up there, I thought.

"Crap!" It came out as a whisper, but I almost shouted it. Why did I live in one of those typical houses with a tree right outside a second story window? It was the only possible way they'd gotten in. I went back out front and out to the street. Tread marks, perfect.

"Cassandra?" I turned around to see Ryan coming out of the house. "What happened? Why didn't you wake me up before?"

"I – I just heard a noise. I ignored it... but I heard it again so I checked, and she was gone. If I would have went the first time I could have caught them... I could have."

"I called Horatio, he's on his way over right now, and he said he's going to call Calleigh and Eric -"

"But it's 2 am!"

"I know, I know, but if anything they'll _want _to come and help. It's not your fault, please don't believe this is your fault," he said, pulling me into him.

I was shaking my head. "No, no, no... Why us? Why her? She's been through enough already!" Angry tears were filling my eyes.

"I don't know, but come inside, we can check around in there until Horatio gets here," he held me by the shoulders and looked at me. "We'll find her, I promise."

I smiled through the tears that finally spilled over. "I know. I don't know what I'd do without you Ryan." I followed him inside, but instead of going upstairs like I'd planned I sat down on the couch and buried my face in my hands. Ryan didn't sit down; he paced the room, hand on the back of his neck.

"Eric might get here first," he said. "I know he lives closer to you."

I nodded. As if on cue, the door was being knocked on continuously. Ryan opened it.

"Wolfe?" Eric looked momentarily confused, he still didn't know about Ryan and I. Calleigh was with him already. They were both dressed and seemed fully awake. Calleigh stood taking in the fact that Ryan was in my home, and we had definitely both just woken up.

"Don't start with questions, please just don't, I could ask you a few at the moment," Ryan said. I didn't know what that meant. "Cassandra, could you tell them what happened?"

"There was a noise, so I went to check it out, Emily was gone, and we called you."

"Did you use your weapon?" Calleigh asked, noting my gun sitting on the coffee table in front of me.

"No, didn't find anyone to shoot," I said, scowling.

"Which room is hers? We'll start processing," Eric said.

"Oh! Horatio put out an amber alert already," Ryan said.

I nodded at Ryan and then looked at Eric. "Third room on the left down the hall," I stopped then said to no one in particular, "We can't work this can we?"

"I'm afraid not. Since she was living here, and you were technically her guardian, it'd be a conflict of interest. I'm sorry, but I have to ask, what were you two doing when you heard the noise?"

"Sleeping," Ryan said quickly. Calleigh looked at me for confirmation.

"We were only sleeping, Cal. It woke me up, and I went to look, when I saw she was gone I woke Ryan up."

She nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll be upstairs then."

Calleigh left and there was another knock on the door. Ryan again answered, and was greeted this time by Horatio.

"H," he said.

"Mr. Wolfe," Horatio nodded and stepped inside. "Miss James."

"Hi Horatio," the tears had stopped, but I was still having trouble holding them in.

Horatio made himself at home and sat down beside me on the couch. He tilted his head towards me. "What happened?"

"Heard a noise, checked it out, Emily was gone so I woke up Ryan and he called you while I went outside to see if maybe they hadn't left yet. Calleigh and Eric are already upstairs."

"Okay, you two can't work the case, but you know that. I'll head upstairs with Calleigh and Eric, we'll see if we can find a print," he said to us. Ryan was standing with his arms crossed; he looked annoyed that he couldn't work it.

"There's a tread mark outside," I remembered.

"I'll get Eric on it," Horatio said, then headed upstairs. A few minutes later Eric came back downstairs, he stopped by the door.

"Hey guys?" We both looked over at him. "I'm really sorry this happened, and I'm glad you guys have each other now. Especially for this," he looked at me. "He'll take care of you."

I looked at Ryan, he was smiling at Eric. "I know, Eric. Thanks," I said.

He nodded and went outside.

...

"Check the windowsill Calleigh," Horatio said, looking around the small room. "It looks like the only entry point besides the door, but the alarm system would have gone off if they'd come in through the front door to get up here. And there were no signs of forced entry on the front door."

"Sure Horatio," Calleigh said, getting out the necessary items and heading over to the window. She snapped on a pair of gloves and starting dusting, handle first, then sill. After photographing and lifting the prints that quite possibly could have been Cassandra's or Ryan's or even Emily's, she opened the window. "Got a hair H, medium length, light brown. Roots probably still attached."

"It's probably the little girls, but we can confirm she was near the window with it."

"Not just _near _the window," Calleigh said, bagging the evidence, "but quite possibly on the way _out_ the window, it was stuck right in there. With the window closed we wouldn't have seen it."

"Good work, keep it up in here, I'm going to see how it's coming for Eric outside," Horatio said. He made his way downstairs, passed Ryan and Cassandra consoling each other, and out into the road where there were now patrol cars, and officers walking around, yellow crime scene tape surrounding the area. There were evidence markers on the road where he assumed the tread marks were. He walked to the side of the house where Eric was taking photos.

"Find anything Eric?"

Eric looked up from the camera. "Weird mark in the bark of this tree. I don't know what it is, but I'm willing to bet it's how they got up to that window. There was also a piece of metal out on the curb, like they drove over or into the curb. Might be from their rims," he jerked his head in the direction of the street.

Horatio stood with his hands on his hips and looked up at the window where he could see Calleigh still processing. "We have to find her Eric."

"I know... Hey H, can I ask you something?" Eric asked.

"Always Eric."

"Well, I know Cassandra and Ryan are together now, but about Emily. They aren't her _legal _guardians are they?"

Horatio smiled at Eric. "Not yet."

**So, the next few chapters are going to be a lot more crimey (or at least, I'll try). Fluff in between parts. ;D Thanks to all of my reviewers/alerters! (I LOVE REVIEWS.) I know I say this every time, but I SHOULD have my next part up faster! **


	25. Chapter 25

**Here you go, next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, everyone.**

We were at the MDPD, no way was I waiting at home while the prints were processed and the tread was being matched to a car. We still weren't allowed to work the case, so Ryan and I were in the break room.

For the first time in my life I felt like a mother. I was worried sick about Emily. It'd been 3 hours since I figured out she was gone. A lot could happen in three hours.

Ryan was again, pacing. It seemed like he couldn't stop moving, when all I wanted to do was sit there and _not _move.

"Do you want a coffee or something?" he asked suddenly.

"No thank you."

"Pepsi? Something to eat? Please give me something to do, Cassandra," he said.

I shrugged. "We could worry together."

He sat down beside me. "No, let's be positive about this okay?"

"But it's so hard."

"It's not that hard. Emily will be fine, we'll find her, put this guy away. Now you say it."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why?"

"Just do it."

I sighed. "Emily will be fine; we'll find her and put the guy away forever."

"Hey you added forever, that's good."

I rolled my eyes.

...

Eric was in the lab with Calleigh. She was running AFIS while he searched through a book of tire treads.

"Hey Cal?" Eric said.

"Yes Eric?"

"Do you think they noticed that we were fully awake and dressed?"

"I think Ryan did, after all he said he could ask us a few questions himself," she responded.

"Do you think Horatio will care that four of his CSI's are in a relationship with another?"

Calleigh smiled. "I hope not, but as far as he knows, only two are in a relationship right now. You were right about Cassandra and Ryan; I wonder how long he'd been staying with her."

Eric got up. "Not in the lab Eric! Remember Natalia...?" Calleigh said.

Eric rolled his eyes and sat back down. "Fine, we'll save it for private. Anyways, I don't know, the way he seemed perfectly comfortable opening her door and pacing the living room shows it's probably been a while."

"Not to mention that I doubt he was sleeping on the couch," Calleigh said.

Eric laughed. "True." The machine beeped. "Got a hit?"

Calleigh sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "Yea, the print belonged to Cassandra. Damn."

"Well it is her house, her prints must be everywhere."

"Well we still have that hair; I brought it to Natalia earlier, thank goodness she came in. It's probably Emily's but we still have a chance. You find a tire that's a match to the tread Cassandra found yet?" Calleigh asked, leaning over the table to get a better look.

"Not yet..." Eric said, flipping the page again. "The metal I found was chrome though, so it's expensive, probably from a customization. When I find the tire we'll know what kind of car to look for."

...

"So, I was wondering why you said 'I could ask you a few questions myself,' to Eric, Ryan," I said.

"Didn't you notice?"

"I guess not."

"They were both wide awake; they didn't seem at all like they were just woken up at 2 in the morning. Not to mention Calleigh lives far away from your house, but got there at the same time, and in the same vehicle as Eric."

I blinked. "Oh! You think they're? Oh, man I didn't even notice... that's why Eric was so embarrassed that one day."

"Which day?"

"The day after we... you know, got together. We had a scene - the scene we found Emily at - so I went before you. Eric came in late and I asked who the lucky lady was. He actually blushed and said no one. I bet it was Calleigh!"

"Nothing like lab gossip to keep your spirits up," he said. "I'm happy for them if they are together."

"Me too, I always thought they looked cute together," I said.

...

"Got it!" Eric shouted, startling Calleigh. "Tire treads are from tires sold at Max Wheels. They're mostly used on SUV's. Says here they make custom rims though..."

"So an SUV with custom rims in Miami? Well that narrows it down," Calleigh said sarcastically.

"It might help more than you think; find out if there have been any SUV's reported stolen lately. We have a better chance of finding it if it's stolen. And if it's got custom rims made of chrome, that's even better. "

"I'm on it, call Horatio and tell him about this, and the results from AFIS, I'll meet up with you later and we can go to Max Wheels, see if anyone has bought some custom rims lately," Calleigh told him.

...

"I wish there was some way we could help," I said. I was sinking lower and lower into the couch. Ryan was still sitting beside me.

"You have no idea how horrible this feels for me, just sitting here not doing anything when I _could _be doing so much," he replied.

"I'm sure Calleigh and Eric are working their butts off for us though," I said, smiling.

"They'd better be," he said. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Ryan?"

"Yea?"

"I was thinking about something, and wanted to know what you thought about it."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I've been thinking, very seriously, about adopting Emily."

Ryan stared at me for a moment. "What?"

"I know it's only been a couple of months, but I'm too attached to her now to let her go. I really don't think _she'll _mind. And even if _we _don't work out, I'd really love to take care of her."

Ryan looked down. "I think it's a good idea." I could tell he was thinking something else.

"If we find her, right? If she's not already gone! She could be dead!" Whoa, where was this coming from?

Ryan looked alarmed at my sudden change of emotion. He put his hands around mine. "Whoa, whoa, come on, we will find her, don't say that stuff."

"You were the one thinking it!" I said before leaning forward and dropping my face into my hands.

"I wasn't thinking anything like that! At all!"

"You weren't?" I asked looking up.

"No!"

"What then? I could tell you were thinking something!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'what about me?'"

"Huh?"

"You going to adopt her alone? I mean you don't have to be married to adopt or anything, but you know, I'm kind of attached now myself."

"Oh, you mean... Wait did you just propose?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "No, just suggested it."

"Well, uhm... I don't know. We've only been together a few months, and – stuff."

"It's okay to say no if you're not ready. You're right, we haven't been together that long. You won't hurt my feelings or anything. I'm willing to wait."

"Thanks... sorry for kind of freaking out."

"It's okay," he said, settling back into the couch.

...

"H!" Eric raised his voice so Horatio could hear him from down the hall. Horatio turned his head towards Eric, who was coming towards him at a quick pace.

"What is it Eric?"

"Two things, that print we found on the windowsill, it belonged to Cassandra."

Horatio nodded. "It's her house, her prints would be everywhere."

"Yea, but the treads from the street match these tires mainly for SUV's; they sell them at a place called Max Wheels."

"Good work, what about the metal you found on the curb?"

"Chrome. Now the information we have on this Max Wheels place says they make custom rims. If we can get a list of the last few buyers we'll have something to go on. Calleigh's also checking to see if there have been any stolen SUV's recently, just in case these guys stole a car instead of using one of their own."

Horatio nodded again. "Good, get over there as soon as possible Eric."

"Sure H." After talking with Horatio Eric went to find Calleigh, whom he met up with down the hall; she seemed to also be looking for him.

"Got something?"

"Unfortunately no. There haven't been any missing cars matching our description lately. There weren't even any with any sort of customization."

"Well, that doesn't help us much does it?"

"No, but maybe the guys at this Max Wheels place can tell us the names of recent buyers."

Calleigh looked at her watch. "Well we've got about 2 hours to burn, it's currently 6 am and the place doesn't open until 8 am."

"Want to join me for breakfast then? I'll buy," Eric asked.

"Sure," Calleigh smiled then leaned in. "I'd love to."


	26. Chapter 26

**Here's another one for you. :D**

"Nice," Eric said, hopping down from the Hummer and examining a car in the driveway.

"Remember why we're here, Eric," Calleigh said, rolling her eyes but smiling at the same time.

"I will, I will," he reassured her.

Together they went inside, Eric looking around getting more and more impressed with the place by the minute and to the front counter where a man was standing, his back facing them.

"Excuse me?" Calleigh said when they'd approached the counter. The man turned around and flashed a smile at her. He was tall, dark hair slicked back and had a dark tan. She smiled back and Eric felt a pang of jealousy.

"Call me Mark, can I help you?" he asked.

"Yea, you can," Eric said, stepping up beside Calleigh and flashing his badge. "We need to know who in the last few weeks you've sold customized chrome rims to. Also," Eric took a picture out of the folder he was carrying with him, "do you know what tires these treads belong to, and if you sold a combination of those and the chrome rims to someone with an SUV?"

Mark looked surprised and almost scared at all of the sudden questions. Calleigh put a hand on Eric's arm, to calm him down. "Sorry sir, but we're investigating a homicide and we need this information."

"Sure, whatever," he shrugged, getting over it fast, and bent down behind the counter. When he came back up he had a black binder and a catalogue. He opened it and looked up at the two of them. "I keep all records of the sales I make in here. Those treads you showed me look like these," he opened the catalogue to a certain page and pointed a finger at it, "and I do believe I sold some chrome rims along with these special tires to a guy by the name of..." this time he quickly flipped open the black binder, startling Calleigh and Eric who blinked but waited calmly, and stopped on a page with various information. "His name was Travis Petty. Got these things for a 2007 Dodge Nitro. It was pretty pimped out already."

"You saw it?" Eric asked. The guy nodded yes.

"Yup, he drove it here, our mechanics put the tires on right away and then he left," he looked back and forth from Eric to Calleigh. "I didn't get a licence plate number but I can tell you it was red," he said, seemingly knowing they were going to ask. "Can I help you with anything else?"

"No sir, thanks so much for all of this information, you've really helped," Calleigh thanked him and tugged at Eric's sleeve.

"But sir," Eric kept on, "can we take this page from your folder?" It was hole punched and clipped in, so he didn't have to rip any pages.

"Sure thing, mind if I go to the back and make you a copy though? I need this but I'll be happy to make the copy."

"Yea, no problem," Eric said. While Mark went around the back to get the copy, Eric gazed around the shop. Calleigh smiled and nudged him in the ribs.

"You impressed with this place huh?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I am. I just wish I could afford to do this stuff to my car."

Calleigh laughed. "Well I for one think it's a waste of money, a complete man thing."

Eric shrugged. "I am a man, and I would waste my money on it if I had the money to waste."

"Officers?" They heard from behind them. They both turned back around to face Mark. "Here you go. Glad I could help you, if you need anything else feel free to drop by again, or you could call, we're in the book."

"Thanks again man," Eric said. "You've helped us out quite a bit."

Mark nodded once more before Calleigh and Eric turned to go back out to the Hummer.

...

I opened my eyes, just to see nothing but the white of Ryan's jacket. I sat up; I had been leaning into him, and looked at an over head clock. 9 am. We were still in the break room. I rubbed my face and looked around, no one else was there. I sat there thinking. Wondering if Calleigh and Eric had gotten a break yet, if they'd seen or heard from anyone who knew where Emily was, and then of course, I worried. Ryan was still sleeping, leaning on the arm of the couch, face buried in his own arm.

I was up and getting coffee when I was startled by the annoying chime of Ryan's cell phone. He woke up with a start, saw me standing there, took his phone out of one of his jacket pockets and threw it on the floor in front of me. Obviously he wasn't in the mood for a phone conversation. The phone was fine; it wasn't a long drop from the couch to the floor, so I picked it up and looked at the ID. "Delko" was blinking on and off the screen, along with a picture of Eric that no doubt was candid. I had no idea Ryan actually used the camera on his phone, let alone the picture ID. Flipping the phone open to answer I decided to take a look through all the photos later on.

"Hello?"

"Cassandra? Where's Wolfe?"

I looked back towards the couch where Ryan was now lying on his side, sleeping again.

"He's sleeping."

"Are you still at the lab?"

"Uh huh."

"Well we have a job for you."

Right away I was a little more excited than usual. "Oh yea? What would that be?"

"We need you to pick up a suspect."

"Okay-"

"But," he stopped me, "_only _pick up. You're not allowed to interrogate, ask about Emily, or any of that. Just the reason why he's being arrested – suspected kidnapping – and bring him in. Make sure you tell Ryan that too, no threats either."

I rolled my eyes, like Eric had never threatened a suspect. "Sure thing, where is this guy?" I grabbed a pen and a notepad and jotted down the address and the suspects name that Eric read out to me, hung up with him and then went to wake Ryan up. I didn't know why, but I got some weird pleasure out of waking people up in obnoxious ways.

I walked over and sat on him, he cringed inwardly right away, I was right on his side. He tried pushing me off but instead I bounced, only to bug him more. Finally he opened his eyes and looked at me like I was crazy.

"Uh ow!" he said.

I jumped off of him and the couch. "Get up; we've finally got a job to do."

He sat up, rubbing his side and looked at me. "What?"

"A job Ryan! Come on! Get some coffee and let's go!"

"What's the job?" he said, standing and getting coffee like I'd said.

"Picking up a suspect."

He looked at me, and I knew what he was thinking so I decided to give him Eric's rules. "We're only picking up, not interrogating, asking any questions, _or _threatening him."

Ryan huffed. "Fine, but if he is the one -"

"Eric and Horatio will take good care of him I'm sure," I insisted. "Come on slow poke!"

He rubbed his face with his hand. "I feel dirty."

"No time for showers, later, when we get back, come on!" I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the room, glad to be able to do _something _to help.

...

It was a quiet drive to the address Eric had given me. Ryan had let me drive; I didn't think he was in a very good mood.

"So, Ryan?"

"Hmm?"

"Why does Horatio call you Mr. Wolfe?"

Ryan turned in his seat to look at me. "I don't know. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I was sort of Speedle's replacement, and he called him 'Speed', so I guess he doesn't want to have the same relationship with me that he had with Speedle."

I glanced at him. "Who's Speedle?"

"He was the guy who worked here before I came along..."

"What happened to him?"

"He was shot in the line of duty."

"Oh..."

"Yea... didn't get a lot of love for my first year, especially from Eric."

"I see, so... that's what's behind all of H's formalities..."

"Yea, or maybe it's that I'm the youngest, besides you, and he doesn't want me to feel like the youngest," he said. "You realize he calls you _Miss _James right?"

I thought about it for a minute. "Whoa, he does!"

Ryan laughed then shrugged. "I guess we'll never know."

"Here we are," I said, pulling to the side of the street to park. We both got out and went to the front door. The house was huge, this guy was probably loaded. Ryan knocked first.

"MDPD!" I yelled. Ryan looked at me and I shrugged. "I like doing that."

The door opened, and both Ryan and I looked up. This guy was _tall_, massively huge! "Uh, are you," I looked at my paper, "Travis Petty?"

"Yea, who's asking?"

"We're from the Miami Dade Police Department; you're going to have to come with us..." Ryan said.

...

"Did you _see _that guy Ryan?" I asked. We were back in the break room, since we weren't allowed to interrogate this Mr. Petty.

"I couldn't exactly see his face, he was standing too close and if I looked any farther up I might have broken my neck."

"He made me feel so tiny. I mean, no offense Ryan, but you're not tall, and standing beside you makes me feel short! He was huge."

"He made me nervous."

"He could be the guy..."

Ryan looked at me. "You're right. It's almost like this didn't happen. Like Emily's at home right now with a babysitter."

I sat down beside him. "Yea. We'll find her; Calleigh and Eric are working hard, and Horatio."

"Now you're the one being positive."

"Well they finally have a lead."

"That's true. They better call us after their interrogation with this guy."

"I'm hungry," I said, trying to change the subject.

"Hm... Dairy Queen?"

I sighed. "You know me too well."

**It's nearing the end now. Thanks for all the reviewers and alerters. Seems like everytime I update there's more of you! I love it! : ) **


	27. Chapter 27

**Here's another chapter for you all. : ) I'm sorry for any mistakes in it, I literally _just _finished it now. But, since school starts tomorrow I don't know when I'll have another chapter up, so I wanted to post this right away. **

Back from our excursion to the outside of the Crime Lab, Ryan and I were wandering. It felt too weird being in the Crime Lab but not being able to work. We spent a couple of hours with Natalia and Valera in DNA. They weren't working on Emily's case, so it was fine. We mostly talked while they worked, but it was nice to be out of the break room and talking to different people.

Finally, they shooed us out, and we headed down to the morgue to talk with Alexx. She looked a bit too excited when we walked in together. I was holding onto Ryan's hand, more or less. Alexx glanced up, and sure enough when she saw us she grinned. We probably reminded her of a couple of love struck teenagers.

Ryan walked into the middle of the room and leaned on a gurney that still had a body on it. I dropped his hand and stood in the middle of the room. I still wasn't completely used to the morgue yet, I was fine being near a dead body when it was at a scene still, I didn't even care if I had to grab a piece of lone hair out of an inch deep stab wound in a dead body, as long as it was still in the field. But once those bodies reached the morgue, and they were cleaned and autopsied and sewn up, I found them creepy. I was definitely _not _getting as close to one as Ryan was at the moment, and I definitely wouldn't be acting so nonchalant about it either.

"Hello Honey," Alexx said to me. I only knew she was talking to me because she called me Honey, and she called Ryan, Baby.

"Hi Alexx."

"How are you two holding up?"

Ryan, to my relief, stood up straight and moved away from the gurney.

I shrugged. "Fine I guess. I just hope they find her. Every day her chances go down..."

"Think positive," Alexx started, "she was only taken last night right? It's a very good chance still. Calleigh and Eric will do it."

I nodded. "Thanks."

Ryan hadn't said anything since we'd entered and she looked at him now. "What about you, Baby?" I almost felt bad for Ryan. Horatio called him "Mr. Wolfe", Alexx called him "Baby", and Eric stuck mostly to just "Wolfe". I wondered why it was so hard for people around here to just say his name.

"I'm fine, Alexx."

She looked stern all of a sudden. "You sure about that?"

He rolled his eyes. "_Yes_, Alexx."

She didn't look completely satisfied, but she knew she wouldn't get anymore out of him so she just looked at him, rather intensely, before turning away to pull a sheet off of a body that was in line to be autopsied. This one didn't bother me; it hadn't been cleaned or autopsied yet.

"Don't worry Alexx," I said, moving closer so I could wrap my arms around Ryan. "He has _me_." I grinned. He rolled his eyes, but smirked.

Alexx turned and looked at us. "I have an autopsy to perform, so if you two lovebirds are done here, I'd like you to leave now."

I laughed. "Sure thing Alexx, come on Ryan, we're not wanted in here right now." Alexx gave me a look as I dragged Ryan out of the cold morgue. Ryan faced me when we were in the hall.

"Would it be okay with you if I went home for a few hours?"

"Yea, of course. Go ahead. I'll stay here, in case Calleigh or Eric need anything."

"Thanks, I just need to take a shower and stuff; maybe sleep for a few. I'll be at my house so if you need anything call me there."

"Alright. I'll see you later," I kissed him, lingering a little longer than I probably should have at work.

"Call me if anything, even a little thing, happens," he said.

"I will."

...

"So Mr. Petty," Eric started. He and Calleigh were seated across the table from him. "I hear you have a pretty expensive car."

Travis nodded. "Sure do. That car is one of my most prized possessions. Spent a lot of money on it. Why?"

Eric looked at Calleigh, prompting her to answer. "We think it was used in a kidnapping, Mr. Petty."

He looked surprised. "Now why would you think that?"

"Do you have customized rims, sir?" Eric asked.

"Yea, me and another quarter of the population of Miami," he retorted.

Eric and Calleigh glanced at each other. "Can we see this car of yours, please? Where do you keep it? Home? A garage somewhere?" Calleigh asked.

Travis glanced around the room. "I don't have it."

"What?" Eric said, trying to sound shocked on purpose.

"Got stolen," Travis grunted.

"Really now? Did you report it?" Eric asked, already knowing the answer.

Travis shrugged. "No."

"Why not? I would think you would report your most _prized _possession, and all the money it's worth, stolen."

Travis stared at the table in front of him and didn't say anything.

"It wasn't stolen was it?"

Travis shook his head, still not looking up from the table.

"Who did you give it to?" Calleigh asked, suddenly aware that this guy probably knew who kidnapped Emily.

Travis shook his head. "I can't say – I can't tell you... I want a lawyer."

...

I'd never realized how much time I spent with Ryan until he wasn't there. I guess I was clingy, sure. But you tend to get like that when you're always around _one _person, all the time, especially when you love them _that_ much. He hadn't been gone a full 2 hours yet, but I missed him. And, even if I didn't show it, I still thought about our hostage situation a lot. Not being around Ryan made me worry. I didn't feel safe, even in a buidling swarming with police officers.

Now with Emily being kidnapped, I was going to be a complete wreck, not to mention Ryan. He never showed it, but he was taking this way harder than me. He tried to be positive yea, but I knew the CSI in him wouldn't let him shove _statistics _out of his mind. He was only doing it for me, putting it on for me. If something happened to her, if she never came back, I don't know what would happen to him, and it really did worry me, especially about our future.

I heard a light tap on the door. Calleigh was outside the glass peering in. I didn't know how many times she'd knocked, or if that was the first time. I tried smiling and waved her in.

"Hey Cassandra," she sounded morose. Not a good sign.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting up straighter.

She sighed. "Eric and I just interrogated Travis Petty."

"And?"

"We think he knows who took Emily."

"Great! Who -"

"He's not saying anything."

"Oh."

"He's asked for a lawyer. He's scared, so obviously it's someone dangerous."

"Right." I whipped out my cell phone, trying not to be angry. I didn't want it to seem like I didn't think Calleigh and Eric could do a good job. I just couldn't help my actions.

"Who are you calling?" she asked lightly.

"Ryan."

"Why? Where is he?"

"He's at home. Can I just, have a moment?"

She nodded and left the break room.

"Hello?" I heard through the phone.

"Ryan."

"Cassandra? What happened?"

"Calleigh just came and told me Travis Petty probably knows who took Emily, but he isn't saying anything."

Ryan was silent for a second. "I'll be there in a half hour."

"What? You don't have to, we can't do anything."

"I don't care! I said I'll be there in a half an hour!" Then he hung up.

...

Deciding it would probably be best to meet him at the door, I downed the rest of the coffee I was drinking and went down to reception, near the front doors. Soon enough Ryan appeared, not looking too happy at all. He'd changed his clothes and styled his hair, but I could still see the worry on his face.

"Ryan," I said when he walked in. He ignored me and kept going. "Ryan!" I grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not just going to _sit _here and _wait _for this guy to say something! I'm sick of not being able to do anything. I _want _to talk to Travis Petty."

"We can't, you know we can't."

"I _don't _care. Hell, I don't care if I get fired for this; I am not just going to sit around!" He had raised his voice, a lot, and people were staring at us.

Ryan was usually quiet, did what he was told, didn't get in the way. But when he was mad, he was _mad_. And he didn't care what _anyone _thought about that.

I didn't know what to do. I knew I couldn't stop him. "Ryan, please, don't. You'll get into trouble."

He turned to face me, but it wasn't angry that time. It was genuinely _broken._ For a second I thought he was going to just stop and cry, but instead he turned away and continued down the hall, towards interrogation, with me reluctantly following behind.

**If you find any big mistakes (when I first wrote this I accidently said Calleigh was outside the glass _peeing_ in) feel free to tell me, I really don't mind, in fact I'd rather you told me. Thank you everyone who reviews and alerts, my inbox filled with notifications makes me _quite _happy. **


	28. Chapter 28

**Don't worry everyone, I _am _alive! I hope you all remember what happened last chapter since it's been over a month since I last updated. If not, well it's not like you can't go back a chapter with two clicks of your mouse. I've been putting this off because even though I was oh-so-happy that this was my second last chapter, I was sad as well. But I think it's about time I posted it. I can't promise the _last _chapter will be up any time soon even though it's over half written. Anyways, enjoy this. **

"Ryan?" Calleigh said when he barged in, genuinely shocked. Eric sat there and met my eyes; I didn't have to do anything for him to know why Ryan was there.

We all followed his gaze to the man sitting across the table. The one we'd picked up from our house.

"I want to talk to him." Ryan said, blatantly pointing at Travis who sat, staring wide eyed at him.

"You can't -" Calleigh started.

"I _am_!"

Calleigh looked down and nodded. She knew she couldn't do anything either, so she stood up, dragging Eric up with her. "You know the possible consequences though, don't you?"

"I do."

"Good," and with that her and Eric left, leaving me and Ryan alone with Travis Petty.

Ryan sat down across from him, I stood near the door.

"I said I wanted a lawyer, not to talk to some other guy."

"Well you're going to talk to me, or I'll just talk to you, you do, after all, have the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. I understand, don't want to go to jail and all that. Now let's talk about this car of yours, you lent it to someone right?"

Travis didn't say anything. Ryan stared at him.

"Well let's assume you did. Did you know who you were giving it to?"

Again, Travis said nothing.

"Do you have any idea what you could have done? Any idea at all about who you're hurting?"

This time Travis did look up, then slightly shook his head no.

"It's a little girl," Ryan's voice was so low now I could hardly hear him from the door. "An innocent little girl, Mr. Petty. She could be dead and it would be your fault, because you couldn't simply tell us who you lent your car to. _You'll _be the one charged with murder. Her family misses her, a lot, and every day they're losing hope that she's even still alive," I knew he was talking about me and him. "_Please _tell us something."

"If the people you lent the car to in any way threatened your life, we can offer you police protection, and you'll have a better chance in court. Think of the girl, her name's Emily," I spoke up. Ryan had completely lost his angry demeanour. He was calm at the moment.

"Okay... okay," Travis said. "You promise me police protection?"

"Yes," Ryan and I said in unison.

"This guy I work with, he said he wanted to borrow my car to take his daughter out in. But, when he didn't bring it back that day I went over to his house. The car was there and the door was open so I went on in and asked if I could take it back now. He looked shocked to see me; it looked like he was just getting ready to leave. He had this kid... a little girl. He was dragging her by the wrists towards the door..." Travis stopped talking.

"What else?!" Ryan demanded.

"He put a gun to my head, said he was taking my car, and I wouldn't go to the police or tell anyone about it, or he'd come back for me too."

"What's his name?"

"Carrey Tomlinson."

Almost automatically, Ryan put his face in his hands.

"Take him out of here," I said to one of the officers. "Give him a guard for the time being," I turned to Travis Petty, this guy, towering over everyone in the room. He was only scared for his life. "Thank you _so _much."

He nodded and was lead away by the officer.

I put my hand on Ryan's shoulder. "I'll call Horatio." He only nodded.

...

"Carrey Tomlinson?" I was trying to keep up to speed with Horatio, but he walked fast when he was in a hurry, obviously.

"Yea, Petty said he was taking his car. You have the license plate number? Should be the same car."

"I got it," he was out the doors.

I ran back to interrogation, everyone just seemed to have gathered there. Ryan was back to his normal, calm self at the moment.

"Horatio's on his way to the house. We know they're definitely not there anymore, but we need to find something, anything that has a clue as to where they went."

Calleigh and Ryan nodded at me. I wasn't sure where Eric was.

"I'm going to head over there too as soon as Eric gets back," Calleigh said.

"Where is he?"

"Bathroom. Even in situations like this, nature calls."

A few minutes later Eric came back, and he and Calleigh left for the house. Ryan and I just had to wait, which was extremely difficult under the circumstances.

...

We seemed to have been spending an awful lot of time in the Miami Dade break room. While Horatio was off potentially saving the day, along with the help of Calleigh and Eric, Ryan and I were doing more of what we'd been doing best these past two days, waiting.

"They'll find her," I was confident in this statement. Although it _was _a bit of a surprise when Travis Petty had said Emily was kidnapped by her own father. It was hard to think of her having a father. Her mother was gone and we'd found nothing on him. Besides, the longer she'd been with us, the closer I'd been to accidently referring to Ryan as "Dad" when I was talking to her. But after this she wouldn't have a father either, at least not a biological one that she could see regularly.

Ryan hadn't replied to me. He hadn't said much at all since Travis had caved and told us everything we needed to know. He was staring at something, maybe a mark on the wall; maybe he wasn't actually _seeing _anything right now. I prayed she was okay for his sake.

We both jumped when a phone rang. Ryan's hand moved at almost lightning speed to get to the phone he had in his jacket pocket. He whipped it open, almost dropping it in the process, and finally managed to get out "Wolfe." I'd moved from the chair and now had my face close enough to him and the phone that I could manage to hear what was being said.

"He's running."

"_What?_"

"Carry Tomlinson is running! We need you two, _now!_"

"Does he have Emily?" I practically screamed into the phone. Ryan looked at me, eyebrows raised, but waited for an answer.

"He does, don't do anything unexpected, he could kill her."

Horatio's voice cut off as he hung up. Ryan and I looked at each other before both jumping up at almost the same time.

"Oh. God," I breathed.

"Come on, we don't have enough time."

"Wait!" I grabbed his arm and held him back. "Promise me whatever happens, you'll be here."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Of course I will be."

"And Ryan, I will marry you. I want to, after this is done. Please."

He must have said the first thing to come to mind, because I didn't expect it when he said simply, "I don't have a ring."

I smiled and pushed him out of the room.

...

I had in my hand, a GPS receiver. While Ryan and I were running out of the lab, Cooper had sprinted out of A/V to shove it into my hands. "The car has GPS, follow the signal," was all he said. I nodded at him and left out the doors. Now we just needed to track Carrey down.

The GPS had locked onto the signal, and Ryan was driving like an absolute mad man, listening to my directions and weaving in and out of traffic.

"He should be right up here..." my voice trailed off. "Crap! Turn right." I jerked forward as the brakes were slammed, just in time to make a _very _sharp right turn. I was thankful I'd put a seatbelt on during our haste.

"There it is," Ryan mumbled. I looked up from the GPS and saw a very nice SUV speeding down the road in front of us.

I grabbed the radio and called for backup. If he wasn't slowing down yet we'd need it. Ryan kept quiet now, concentrating on his driving while I turned on the sirens. When I became a CSI I didn't expect to have to go chasing bad guys around. I thought we investigated crime scenes, hence the acronym _CSI_. Crime Scene _Investigator_. Well things work differently down here in Miami.

I tensed up as the Hummer kept a steady, fast, speed. Ryan glanced at me and smirked. "Don't worry, I'm a good driver."

"Yea, right. Driven by rage at this guy you could kill us any moment. By accident."

He _pshed _and kept on driving. The SUV was still in sight. Word came over the radio that they were setting up road spikes. I opened my mouth to tell Ryan we had to change direction, assuming he wasn't listening. But he heard it and slammed on the brakes again, then turned down another street. He knew where he was going now, where they were setting up the spikes, and how to get around them in case Tomlinson kept going.

Ryan seemed to pick up even more speed. I couldn't see the speedometer but I was sure he was way over the speed limit by now, and yet he looked as calm as if he was driving 10 miles per hour in a traffic jam. He finally made another turn and stopped the Hummer vertically in the center of the street so we were covering both lanes, and I was surprised when I looked to the left and out the driver's side window. There was the red SUV, _behind _us, heading right toward the road spikes.

"Oh no, will he get into an accident?!" I gasped out, so surprised that we were now ahead of the SUV.

Ryan didn't look at me. "He shouldn't. The spikes let the air out, less of a chance of him crashing. Why?"

"Emily's probably in that car. She could be in danger."

He looked at me but didn't say anything. Just turned back and watched as the SUV came speeding down the road, right over the road spikes.

**Like I say in every authors note, I LOVE REVIEWS, and heck I even love when people favourite/alert me. You don't even have to review if you don't want to (but everyone who does gets a special place in my heart). ;) **


	29. Chapter 29: The End

**Yes, I am still alive. I'm not sure if I had writers' block or if I just didn't know how exactly to end this story. I have written a one shot or two so I'll go with the "not sure how to end it" theory. But, I'm posting it right now because if I don't, I'll end up waiting and wanting to make sure it's how I want it. If you didn't guess already, this is the final chapter. It's finally over (and yes, I'm relieved). It's a completely fluffy ending, and there's sort of a lot going on, but I don't want to spoil it so just go ahead and read. Hopefully you enjoy it. (And if you don't remember the cliffhanger [sort of] from the last chapter, you should go re-read the ending.) ;) **

We both watched as the SUV kept going straight. He wasn't letting up on the gas pedal, but the tires were losing air fast. Ryan hadn't calculated the distance we were from the spikes right, because that expensive car was hurtling towards us and the Hummer fast, despite the loss of air in the tires, and it wasn't going to stop before it hit us.

"Get out!" he yelled at me. For some strange reason he'd cut the engine, and there wasn't enough time to _drive_ the Hummer out of the way. I scrambled to open my door; I'd had my seatbelt off by now. I flung my door open and Ryan pushed me out, and then followed. I wasn't expecting him to get out _my _side. We ran to the side of the road just in time. The SUV hit the Hummer with a _thud_. It wasn't a horrible crash, and we'd have lived if we hadn't gotten out of the Hummer in time, but it was still scary to think we were in there 30 seconds ago. I knew a few scratches or even some broken bones could have occurred. And it didn't help my paranoid thoughts to see that the driver's side door was crushed in, where Ryan had been. I decided I'd tell Horatio later that the Hummers looked cool, but they were like any other car, practically a tin can.

I stood there, stunned, staring at the SUV. The driver's side door started to open and a man stepped out. He looked a little dazed, and had quite the gash on his forehead. He took one look in our direction, saw the badges at our waists and tried to make a run for it. I didn't even think, I flew at him and slammed him against the car. "Don't even _think _about going anywhere Mr. Tomlinson! You're under arrest for the kidnapping of Emily Vandervoet."

He struggled with me, but adrenaline was coursing through me and I wasn't letting go of him anytime soon. "Her name should be Emily Tomlinson!" he snapped at me.

I shook him, a little more violently than I had planned. "Shut up!" Ryan came over and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I can handle him. See if she's there."

While Ryan was busy I cuffed Carrey. Soon the sounds of sirens were all around us. Horatio hurried over, along with Eric. I was still holding Carrey against the car, for good measure. Eric put his hand on my shoulder, indicating it was okay to let go now. He guided Carrey away. Remembering Ryan had gone to check the back seats, I hurried around the back where he'd disappeared to (the windows were tinted, I couldn't see through them) and was relieved to see Ryan holding Emily, who had a small cut above her eye. Other than that she looked fine. She turned in my direction.

"Cass!" I always loved how she shortened our names.

"Emily," I walked over, trying not to let tears fall. I wasn't very successful. She looked confused.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong. These are good tears."

She smiled; unaware that anything was really wrong to begin with and wrapped her arms back around Ryan's neck. He looked at me. "I'll take her to get checked out okay?"

I nodded and he smiled. "Everything's fine now Cassandra, it's over." We walked to the side of the street where everyone was gathered.

"Is everyone alright?" Horatio asked as we approached, glancing back over at the crumpled drivers' side of the Hummer.

"Everyone's fine H."

He noticed Emily, clinging to Ryan as if her life depended on it. "Get her checked out Mr. Wolfe."

"Sure H." They left together, leaving me to stand there with Horatio and Eric.

"Are you okay, Miss – James?"

I looked up. I heard the pause he'd left between _Miss _and my last name. "I'm better than I've ever been now that we have Emily back."

Horatio smiled, and placed his sunglasses on his nose. I watched as he did this, in silent awe. Ryan had joked around about H being way over dramatic, but I'd never been there to witness it. Now I believed him.

...

We fell back into the routine of things in a few weeks. We did buy new locks for all of the windows and doors, or rather; Ryan did it himself after the scare we'd had. I can't say I wasn't a little bit glad he did it though; I'd do anything to keep something from happening to Emily again.

Emily had been going to school, so Ryan and I were both able to work, but one of us had to go and pick her up, which meant clocking out early. Horatio agreed to let us do this. I don't know how he pulls some things off but he managed to convince the higher ups that one of us could leave early and be paid for a full day.

It was Ryan's day to leave early, and I'd been waiting impatiently for him to leave. I needed to talk to Alexx, badly. When I knew Ryan was out of the building, I made my way to the morgue.

"Alexx?" I called when I walked in.

"Yea, honey?" she called from somewhere inside the room. I walked farther into the room now that I knew she was there.

"Can I talk to you about something?" I still didn't know where she was, but when she heard my question her head popped up from behind a counter.

"Of course! Come over here, I'm just cleaning up." I walked over to where she was. I wasn't sure how to start what I wanted to say. I think I chose the stupidest way.

"You have kids right?"

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Yea, a son and a daughter. Why?"

I shrugged and sighed at the same time. "I might as well just say it. I think I'm pregnant, Alexx."

I expected her to jump with joy; instead she kept her face blank. "Did you do a home test?" she asked.

"No, I didn't want to," I hesitated, not really wanting to admit it. Then I let out a short laugh. "I'm scared."

"But you and Ryan have Emily, what are you scared of? Everyone knows you two are good parents to her. Or, you're _going _to be as soon as you both adopt her."

"I know but Emily's older, and well I didn't _have_ her. I think I'm more worried about, you know, the whole baby stage. The weird cravings, the peeing a lot, the pain of childbirth, not that I'd know, but you know, I've heard stories." Alexx smiled and I became serious again. "Emily was older, it's not like Ryan and I had to teach her any of the essentials, if you know what I mean. I've always loved kids but I've never actually pictured myself having any. That's changed with Emily, but _two_?"

Alexx laughed. "Believe me honey, two kids is nothing. I have three sisters and two brothers. Counting me that's six kids. My parents handled it fine."

"Yea, but you're parents aren't CSI's with very demanding jobs."

"No, but they _are_ both doctors."

"Oh," I didn't really have anything to say to that. A doctor was probably one of the most demanding jobs out there.

She smiled. "I think you're worrying too much. Besides you'll change your mind once you find out for sure and tell Ryan, I'm sure he'll be excited."

I smiled. "He probably will be. He's so good with Emily."

"Did you need anything from me in a doctor's point of view, or did you just come to talk?"

"Just to talk. I'll find out for sure. I know you're here if I need anything, thanks."

"It's not a problem honey, and you have my home number right?"

"Yea, thanks."

...

I came home later than usual that day, being occupied with something else that needed to be tended to. I mean, getting into a no-appointment health center in the afternoon in Miami did take a few hours. Ryan was a little worried when I got home.

"Where have you been?" he asked, as soon as I walked in the door.

"Running some errands. Why?"

"Why do you think? I was worried! You could have called."

"I'm sorry, Ryan, calm down."

He took a deliberate deep breath. "Sorry, but with what happened, I'm still not over it and when you don't get here on time I start to worry and you know how that works for _me _Cassandra."

I smiled and looked around. "Yup, I know exactly how that works." The house was spotless. "Where's Emily? She's not asleep already is she?" It was only 7 o' clock.

Ryan shook his head. "She's upstairs."

For the next two and a half hours, we all watched a movie together, falling back into the regular tradition. Emily was in bed by 9:30. Ryan and I stayed up, watching whatever we could find on TV.

"Ryan, when you first met me what did you think of me?" I asked, suddenly wanting to know.

"I thought you were... uh, well to be honest I didn't think much of you at all at first. Just another co-worker to get used to."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, thanks."

"What did _you _think of _me_?" he asked.

"I thought you were _sexy_," I laughed. "Never thought we'd end up like this though."

"Neither did I. I was sure Eric would get to you first."

"Or Jake," I rolled my eyes.

Ryan snorted. "Even I have a chance against him."

"Well I _did_ choose you."

"You did, and that reminds me," he stood up and went to the other room.

With no idea of what he was doing, I directed my attention back towards the TV.

A few minutes later he came back. "Cassandra?"

I looked over. "What?"

"I wanted to do this the right way, make it official. I know we're not at a restaurant, or on some romantic date, but it just seems better this way."

"Do what the right -" Before I could finish my sentence Ryan was on his knee in front of me.

"I know we've only been together for a year if that, but I can't picture my life without you in it. So uh, will you marry me?" He was holding up a box with a ring.

I was surprised, but somehow managed to get out a very calm answer. "Well I already told you I would."

He smiled. "Yea, but that was because of everything that was happening. And we haven't said much about it since then; I just wanted to make sure you didn't change your mind."

"Of course not! Besides I'll need someone to help me look after Emily. Now get up, you're too far down for me to kiss. Ooh do I get that?" I said gesturing to the ring that was still in Ryan's hand.

...

Rapid knocking on the door. I knew exactly who it was; I'd called her over here. I got up to answer the door, but didn't have to walk far before it swung open itself. Saddie barged in, ran down the hall towards me and grabbed me in a hug.

I flinched. "Hi Saddie."

"Cassandra!" She grabbed my left hand and held it up to her face, inspecting the ring on it. "Wow, _you're _marrying Ryan!"

I'd told her the news over the phone, she'd screamed, and then there was some shuffling around before she came back on the line and said that she'd dropped the phone. She was the only person who I'd told every little detail of my relationship with Ryan to (even the things I'm sure he wouldn't want me sharing). Sure, Alexx and Horatio knew before Eric and Calleigh, but Saddie knew before everyone. She knew before I knew. Which was strange to think about, but it was true. I'd told her to come over.

I grinned at her. "Come sit in here, I have to ask you something."

Her eyes widened and she followed me into the living room. She looked so excited I had to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Just you. You're more excited than I am over this."

"Well you're getting married! How can I not be excited?"

"Okay, well don't have a heart attack but, will you be my maid of honour?"

"YES! Yes, yes, thank you so much! I love you like a sister!" she hugged me again, squeezing me a little too hard.

"Ow, Saddie, not so hard," she could kill with her hugs. "There's one more thing I wanted you to know. But, you have to swear not to talk about it to anyone until I tell Ryan, because he has to be the first person, besides you, oh and Alexx, that I tell."

"Oh, I can keep secrets, you know me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yea, just like you did when I told you I wanted Ryan to finish what he'd started."

"Hey now, you had never let me know that it was a secret. And besides, you wouldn't be getting married if it wasn't for that."

"I'm sure something would have happened, Saddie."

"Oh, be quiet Cassandra. I like to think it was of my doing that you and Ryan are together now. But anyways, this news you need to tell me sounds exciting! What is it?"

I smiled. "I'm pregnant!"

Surprisingly Saddie was quiet. She sat there, across from me on the couch. Her mouth made a perfect O shape, and then she started talking at me fast. "You're killing me with all of this information! You're not showing, how far along are you? Are you happy, sad? Are you still adopting Emily?! I promise I won't tell Ryan but you have to soon. I'm so happy for you!"

"Slow down! I'm already about a month along, I'm very happy about it, _and _yes, I would never let Emily go because of this. In fact we're in the middle of having Carrey Tomlinson's parental rights terminated. Doesn't that sound horrible?"

"It doesn't sound very nice, but he's in prison now."

I nodded. "He consented to it anyway. He wanted her at first, that's why he kidnapped her, but I guess he did it because he _is_ her dad. He's realized he's not getting out of jail any time soon, and by the time he gets out Emily will have forgotten him again. Better for her to be away from him anyway. Then I guess Ryan and I have to file the intent to adopt petition, and it'll be official soon enough."

Saddie hugged me again. "When you first came to Miami I liked you right away. I'm glad we became friends, and like I said, I love you like a sister, Cassandra. I'm just so happy for you! You're going to have a real family soon."

"I know, it's pretty amazing actually," I paused, unsure of what to say. "So, maid of honour?"

"Ah! Yes!"

...

"Wow, since I moved here I never really got a chance to see the beach. It's even more beautiful than I thought it would be. Not to mention all the _very _good looking people..." I said it as two very muscular, very good looking shirtless men walked by. Ryan rolled his eyes and ignored my gawking. He knew any woman (and some men) wouldn't be able to _not _stare at that, so he wasn't so jealous. Instead he decided to take our conversation in a different direction.

"Yea, if you ever get the chance to go swimming in it, don't open your mouth too much. Have you ever been to the ocean anyways?"

"No, I'm scared of sharks." Ryan looked at me with his eyebrows raised. "What? It's a perfectly rational fear."

"The odds of being attacked by a shark are 1 to 8 million."

"And there are about 18 million people in Florida. So, I would have about 2.25 chances of being attacked by a shark in Florida."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "But you have to remember that's in all of Florida, not just Miami."

"Whatever, I'm still not going in the water."

We were walking down the sidewalk, neither of us wanted to walk in the sand, but the sidewalk was almost fully covered by sand now, due to people leaving the beach and walking up the sidewalk, or kicking it there on purpose. Somehow Ryan and I had both ended up with our day off on the same day, so while Emily was at school I'd decided I wanted to finally see South Beach. A whole year had passed since I'd moved to Miami and I still hadn't seen the beach, besides the occasional crime scene, or if I needed to drive by to get somewhere.

I saw a small restaurant up the road and decided I wanted to stop. The place was really more of a coffee shop, but it was still a pretty nice place, with a perfect view of the beach and the water. We ended up sitting at a table on the balcony outside, making the view even better. Instead of coffee we both ordered iced tea. They didn't have much but it was too hot outside for coffee, and it was good enough.

"Ryan?"

"Yes?"

"After the w_edding_," I loved emphasizing it, "do you want any more kids? I know we have Emily, but I'm just wondering." I actually wasn't wondering. I was hoping badly that he was going to say yes, because it would have spoiled the mood for sure if I'd said I was pregnant after he just told me he didn't want to have any.

He shrugged instead. "Whatever happens happens. I definitely wouldn't mind it." I let out an audible sigh of relief and he gave me a funny look. "Why?"

I couldn't keep it from him any longer, it had already been a whole week since I'd found out. "I hope you don't mind if it's a little sooner than _after_ the wedding."

It was obvious that what I'd said didn't register right away; either that or he wanted to make sure he heard me correctly before reacting. Finally he smiled, but I couldn't tell if it was real or forced. "You're pregnant?"

I nodded. "Sort of surprising isn't it? Well, I guess not really."

"No, it's still surprising."

"Are you mad? It's half your fault you know."

"What? No, of course I'm not mad!" he stood up, at the same time as I did. We were each going to go sit beside the other, instead Ryan grabbed me in a hug, even lifted me off of the ground. A few people looked away from their meals to stare at us like we were making a scene. After we'd composed ourselves and were both grinning like maniacs we sat back down, both on the same side this time.

"We could make the wedding a little earlier," Ryan suggested.

"What? Like getting eloped? No way. I want bridesmaids and a big expensive dress and for someone to faint. I'm betting on Cooper."

Ryan looked serious for a moment. "Who says we have to invite Cooper?" I nudged him in the side and he smiled. "Not getting eloped, we can just plan it faster, make the date earlier."

"Yea, I think that'd be great." I turned in my seat and kissed him, and the people staring at us looked away, finally realizing what we were talking about was obviously personal. Other people who didn't notice our hug earlier turned to stare at us _because _we were kissing in a public place. Neither of us cared.

...

"Hey H!" I walked into his office without knocking. He'd already seen me coming through the glass.

"Miss James, hi. Did you need something?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay," he put away what he was working on and placed his hands on the desk in front of him. I stayed standing. "Shoot."

"Well, you know Ryan and I are getting married soon. And I want a really traditional wedding. But, my dad isn't around anymore. He passed a long time ago, and I don't have any living grandparents left, or anyone else I feel close enough to, to walk me down the aisle. I know I've only been working with you for a year, but you're the closest thing I have to a father figure now. You care about us all so much, and I love that. So, I'm just wondering I guess, if you'd be willing to walk me down the aisle?"

Horatio looked surprised. "I'm flattered Cassandra."

"You don't have to, of course, I mean -"

"No, no. I'd love to."

"So it's a yes?"

Horatio stood up from his chair and faced the window, pulling a pair of sunglasses out as he did so. I had to grin at him. "It is most definitely... a yes."

...

**Strange ending? Great ending? Weird way to end it, just breaking it off like that? Well, you can make up your own minds about the future, because this was it. I'm not sure what _I'd_ want it to end up like. :P I hope it was, er, good? I love reviews, so feel free to leave me one, and if this whole thing is read by a new reader sometime in the future, thank you for reading although it's finished. ^_^ Thank you to all my already-readers, and everyone who put me on alert! :D**

**- luf100**


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